One of the more accoladed college football head coaches in the modern era, Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops, announced his retirement on Wednesday after 18 years as the Sooners head coach. Stoops’ retirement, given that the former head coach is only 56-years old, came as a bit of a surprise. But he insists that his decision was not health-related, and he simply felt it was time to move on from the coaching part of his life.
Nick Saban says retiring and not being part of a team ‘scares him to death’
Sounds like the Alabama head coach won’t be retiring anytime soon.
Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
Alabama head coach Nick Saban, who is 65 years old and already cemented as one of college football’s greatest head coaches, was asked about retirement in the wake of the Stoops news. He told the Tuscaloosa News that the thought of retirement is always there, but as long as he can coach at the same level that he has been, he’ll stick around.
“I don’t think that anybody cannot have those thoughts,” Saban said via the Tuscaloosa News. “But my thought is that I want to do it as long as I feel like I can do it. I really enjoy being around the players. I really enjoy trying to create value for them and their future whether it’s their personal development, seeing them graduate, seeing them develop as football players and have opportunities in life.
“I think we do it as well at Alabama because of the team that we have as any place, and I’m really proud of that.”
He added that when he thinks about the idea of not being part of a team, it’s something that is pretty scary to envision.
“As long as I feel good, I love doing it,” Saban said via the newspaper. “I’ve said this before. I’ve been a part of a team since I was 9 years old, and it scares me to death to figure what it’s going to be like when I’m not a part of a team.
“As long as I feel healthy and I can do it, we certainly have every intention of trying to do it. If I felt like I couldn’t do it to the standard that I want to do it, then I think that would be time not to do it. But I certainly don’t feel like that’s any time soon.”
Saban will earn $11 million this year, making him one of America’s highest-paid head coaches in all of sports. He has a contract extension signing bonus, the deal which will pay him $65 million through 2025. As long as the head coach is in Tuscaloosa, the Tide will compete for a national title. I’ll take all the dominant Saban years we can get.
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