Nick Saban on why he retired and why he won't coach again

[TideEngineer08]

I appreciate the fact he got out when he did. In order to have kept going on and "not die" he would have had to relinquish a ton of responsibility and the results would have been disastrous, a la Paterno or Bowden.

Selfishly I wanted him to continue on and achieve certain milestones such as passing Coach Bryant's win totals. But Coach Saban was never about that... and I appreciate how he dealt with all of this. He could no longer give his all to the job, so he was honest with himself and us and stepped away.

 

[dayhiker]

"Too much focus on raw athleticism and too little regard for academics, football IQ, and character."

Really can't agree with this post in general, but I will just single out this one sentence.

I probably don't get out much, but I have seen no evidence whatsoever that this was the case with Coach Saban.

Don't know if there has ever been a college program with a more scientific approach to selecting players. This is well documented in numerous places.

I would find it hard to believe that Coach just threw his standards out the window, as this post would seem to imply.

Were there exceptions? You could certainly make a case for that. But to make a systemic change seems unlikely and a bit of a stretch to me.

Just my 2¢

I agree with you. We regularly had very high APR and graduation rates.

 

[mlh]

CNS did say early in his retirement that one reason was his age and that the last season wore him out. He said he couldn't "recover" like he used to and was physically tired.

 

[mikeua69]

CNS did say early in his retirement that one reason was his age and that the last season wore him out. He said he couldn't "recover" like he used to and was physically tired.

Yep. Go back and watch him after the USF game, heading to the locker room. He looked physically and mentally defeated.

 

[bamajas]

"Too much focus on raw athleticism and too little regard for academics, football IQ, and character."

Really can't agree with this post in general, but I will just single out this one sentence.

I probably don't get out much, but I have seen no evidence whatsoever that this was the case with Coach Saban.

Don't know if there has ever been a college program with a more scientific approach to selecting players. This is well documented in numerous places.

I would find it hard to believe that Coach just threw his standards out the window, as this post would seem to imply.

Were there exceptions? You could certainly make a case for that. But to make a systemic change seems unlikely and a bit of a stretch to me.

Just my 2¢

I'm with you. If anything, holding to his standards too rigidly might've been a weakness at times.

We had a lot of high-character high-performers the last few years, but very few true leaders like the 2020 team had

We might could've stood a few more "raw athletic" guys, if we're being honest

 

[CrimsonTitles]

Curious that Saban's the only coach I'm aware of that threw in the towel.

Dave Clawson just did, and I've heard that Kirby was extremely close to retiring a few years ago. Some of the mid major coaches took demotions to go to P5 schools (potentially even some on our staff, but I don't know their particular reasoning) bc the deck is fully stacked against them now, so I guess you can count those coaches too. It's happened, but Saban has really been the only one who has gotten significant media coverage.

 

[lowend]

It was the combination of all of it that made him decide to pull the plug and I get it. At his age and especially with grandkids, life perspective begins to change, the body naturally wants to slow down and begin to hit cruise control. He made the right decision because in the line of work he was in, if you're thinking about retirement, you've already "retired".

Anybody else pick up on when Miss Terry asked "Why are we doing this?" She's his life partner and an integral part of his career. She felt like she couldn't make a difference anymore either. My wife and I are in education and ministry. When you're called to one of those two things you will put up with a LOT as long as you feel like you're making an impact in others' lives. When you stop seeing that impact, it's time to walk. The Sabans didn't see it anymore.

 

[Bazza]

Happy for Coach Saban he listened to his heart and did what he felt was best for him and his family. The GOAT!

 

[dayhiker]

Dave Clawson just did, and I've heard that Kirby was extremely close to retiring a few years ago. Some of the mid major coaches took demotions to go to P5 schools (potentially even some on our staff, but I don't know their particular reasoning) bc the deck is fully stacked against them now, so I guess you can count those coaches too. It's happened, but Saban has really been the only one who has gotten significant media coverage.

Jay Wright did it in basketball. He has 2 NC's.

 

[Slowpoke Catracho]

In a system where you work with teaching young people you have to constantly change and work on yourself. If you don't enjoy what you are doing, then you need to find a new gig. If you become negative you start draining the energy of those around you including your students/players. He went out at the right time.

 

[arthurdawg]

I'm with you. If anything, holding to his standards too rigidly might've been a weakness at times.

We had a lot of high-character high-performers the last few years, but very few true leaders like the 2020 team had

We might could've stood a few more "raw athletic" guys, if we're being honest

Honestly... the best way to put it is that we have lacked dudes since 2020. You can have really good high performing guys who just aren't dudes. And guys who don't look like much who are dudes.

But we've lacked dudes these last 4 years. The guys who make those big plays and turn the table when you are otherwise evenly matched. The guys who consistently make the critical play and don't screw up.

Hopefully, we can get moving that way next year.

 

[JohnD]

Yeah, he could have gotten eaten by an alligator or run over by a bread truck or something.

You're not that far off. Odds are it would have been a Little Debbie truck. And he did have a losing record against Florida while at LSU.

 

[CajunCrimson]

Jay Wright did it in basketball. He has 2 NC's.

Tony Bennett from UVA too

 

[DzynKingRTR]

Tony Bennett from UVA too

Coach K? He did retire immediately after NIL became a thing.

 

[tusks_n_raider]

I don’t think so. I think there was something special about the pairing of Nick Saban and Alabama Football that led to the Dynasty.

I think he would have been very successful, obviously. I think most likely somewhere in the neighborhood of about 5-6 SEC titles and 3-4 NC’s max.

I don’t think he wins 6 NC’s and 9 SEC titles at LSU.

JMO, of course.

I think he would have either matched his success at Bama or come very close.

He’s the GOAT because he’s the GOAT full stop.

We were just very fortunate that Mal Moore put the non stop full court press on him.

 

[The Ols]

You're not that far off. Odds are it would have been a Little Debbie truck. And he did have a losing record against Florida while at LSU.

That’d just Dave propping’ crazy bread!!!!

 

[bamajas]

I don’t think so. I think there was something special about the pairing of Nick Saban and Alabama Football that led to the Dynasty.

I think he would have been very successful, obviously. I think most likely somewhere in the neighborhood of about 5-6 SEC titles and 3-4 NC’s max.

I don’t think he wins 6 NC’s and 9 SEC titles at LSU.

JMO, of course.

Schematically, he switched to the 3-4 when he went to the NFL (which then impacted Kirby, too), and who knows how much else he learned about why he loves the college game while he was away from it

AND I think the "coal mining mindset" of this part of the state clicked with him more than outsiders can understand. He would've been legendary successful at dozens of schools, but it's a really short list where he would've found the common ground he found here

 

[J4Bama]

Curious that Saban's the only coach I'm aware of that threw in the towel. I fully believe that the issues at Alabama are/were worse than most other places. That came from how CNS managed the changes that were happening (NIL/portal) and he was not recruiting enough of the right kind of players. Too much focus on raw athleticism and too little regard for academics, football IQ, and character.

No doubt that CNS was working his tail off and handling all of these things exactly how he thought was best. In retrospect, it seems he misread the players and ended up making a bad situation worse. It happens to even the best sometimes. He would probably have had to tear it completely down and rebuild to fix it. Too big of a project when you can't get the players or coaches that you want.

Veteran Miami Hurricanes men’s basketball coach Jim Larranaga abruptly resigned at age 75 in his 14th season on December 26, admitting his heart is no longer in the “new world” of college athletics.

 

[CB72]

All the reasons he retired are some of the same reasons I'm losing interest.

Thanks for the grand finale ride of real college football CNS.

 

[cdub55]

If he stayed at LSU he might have won 10+ championships.

Who Alabama hired would have directly played a factor in that. Alabama was a sleeping giant and would have been competitive with the right coach. If you take the years away following any NCAA sanctions, it is hard to find an Alabama team that at some point within that range, that wasn't a player in the national championship discussion. Saban was obviously the ultimate hire, but we would have been a thorn in LSU's side during that time with a competent hire.