How Alabama Players Reacted To Playoff Loss Contributed To Nick Saban Retiring, And It's Pathetic

Nice going, millennials. 

According to sources – and by sources, I mean Nick Saban – the way Alabama players acted after losing the college football semifinal to Michigan earlier this year had an impact on his ultimate decision to retire. 

No, the tantrums from certain members of the locker room weren't the sole reason he hung 'em up, but it wasn’t a great look. And Saban noticed. 

"I want to be clear that wasn't the reason, but some of those events certainly contributed," Saban told ESPN. 

"I was really disappointed in the way that the players acted after the game. You gotta win with class. You gotta lose with class. We had our opportunities to win the game and we didn't do it, and then showing your ass and being frustrated and throwing helmets and doing that stuff ... that's not who we are and what we've promoted in our program."

Alabama players only cared about one thing after loss, and Nick Saban was done 

See? This is why we can't have nice things. 

Because a couple players showed their ass – what a term from Coach Saban – we lost out on potentially another year or two of the GOAT on the sidelines. Nice work, fellas. 

And if you thought a couple bad apples tossing their helmets and kicking and screaming after the loss was bad, don't worry – it got worse!

"I thought we could have a hell of a team next year, and then maybe 70 or 80 percent of the players you talk to, all they want to know is two things: What assurances do I have that I'm going to play because they're thinking about transferring, and how much are you going to pay me?" Saban continued. 

"Our program here was always built on how much value can we create for your future and your personal development, academic success in graduating and developing an NFL career on the field.

"So I'm saying to myself, 'Maybe this doesn't work anymore, that the goals and aspirations are just different and that it's all about how much money can I make as a college player?'"

There has been a ton of speculation about why Nick Saban retired earlier this year. It was a bombshell in the sports world, even for a 72-year-old. You just didn't see it coming, but, at the same time, you sort of did. 

Why? Well, plenty of folks have speculated it was because of all the NIL stuff in today's college football. It's not what Nick Saban grew up on, believed in, taught, or wanted anything to do with. 

And now, some two months later, it appears that certainly played a role in him riding off into the Tuscaloosa sunset. 

That and his kids being a bunch of babies. 

Great.