There’s no question about it: Nick Saban is the greatest college football coach of all time, and he’s got a record seven national championships, six at Alabama, on his resume to back that up.
And now, the longtime Alabama Crimson Tide coach is retiring, ESPN’s Chris Low reported on Wednesday. College football fans were stunned with Saban being such a mainstay of the sport.
The 72-year-old coach is calling it a career — and a very successful one at that — after his No. 4 Crimson Tide squad lost to No. 1 Michigan in the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Rose Bowl last week. (But his last play as Alabama’s head coach is probably one he wants back.)
Even prior to Saban winning his seventh national championship in 2020 — that title broke his tie with fellow Alabama legend Bear Bryant for most all time — we here at For The Win were confident that he’s the GOAT college football coach.
Back in 2019, we wrote this about the coach, one of the biggest staples of college football:
Saban is a master recruiter — kickers aside — and supposedly does it without texting, emailing, Google or the internet in general. Every SEC recruiting class of his has won a national championship with the exception of the 2018 one, and, again, it seems like that will be rectified soon enough.
After the 2019 NFL Draft, he has the record for most first-round picks at 34 — 29 of which played at Alabama. In fact, he has 13 more first-rounders than career losses with the Crimson Tide. That’s wild. …
Yes, he still makes mistakes, and his teams still lose — badly on rare occasions. His temper is well-documented, and his rants are infamous.
But what he’s accomplished in nearly a quarter century as a head coach is extraordinary. He doesn’t need another championship to confirm he’s the GOAT — not that he cares — but we’re pretty sure he’ll get there regardless.
He did get there, and he’s still the GOAT.
Read our full story from 2019 about Saban:
