Nick Saban retires from Alabama, ending legendary coaching career, according to reports

Legendary football coach Nick Saban has decided to call it a career, per reporting from ESPN.

Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide are coming off a loss to Michigan in the Rose Bowl, but a season that started with an auspicious loss to Texas at home. The Crimson Tide ripped off an eight-game win streak after that loss, including a win over Georgia in the SEC championship game. His trust in QB Jalen Milroe after his benching at South Florida turned the Crimson Tide’s season around and lifted them to their eighth CFP appearance since 2014.

Saban is just one of two FBS head coaches to win a National Championship at two different schools, as he delivered a title to Baton Rouge during a previous stint at LSU, when he led the Tigers to a BCS National Championship in 2003. After returning to the college game with Alabama in 2007, following a two-year stint with the Miami Dolphins, Saban delivered six titles to Tuscaloosa.

During his time at Alabama, the Crimson Tide won BCS and AP national championships in 2009, 2011, 2012, and then the College Football Playoff titles in 2015, 2017 and 2020. Saban also joined Paul “Bear” Bryant as the only two coaches in college football history to win an SEC Championship at two different schools. Bryant won SEC titles at Kentucky before his legendary stint at Alabama.

His seven titles are the most from a head coach in college football history, one more than the six won by Bryant.