FILE - In this Nov. 9, 2019, file photo, Alabama coach Nick Saban reacts during the first half of the team's NCAA college football game against LSU in Tuscaloosa, Ala. As Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson, Oregon, Notre Dame, Oklahoma and Florida prepared to play for conference championships, they signed top-10 recruiting classes for 2021 they hope to fuel their next title contenders.. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt, File)
The most prosperous college football program of the twenty-first century was founded by Nick Saban.
Nick Saban of Alabama is leaving the sidelines after building the most successful college football program of the twenty-first century.
The Tuscaloosa News initially revealed Saban’s retirement on Wednesday.
The 72-year-old Saban and his wife Terry “have enjoyed every minute” of their 17 years at the institution and as a member of the Tuscaloosa community, he said in a statement released on Wednesday night announcing his retirement.
“The legacy and the way we approached it are more important than the number of games we won and lost. We’ve always made an effort to act morally,” Saban stated. “Achieving greater value for players’ future, helping them become the greatest players they might be, and helping them become more
Saban leaves with a career record of 297-71-1, which includes wins at Toledo, Michigan State, LSU, and Alabama. This is an incredible winning percentage.
Even though he was successful at every place, his tenure in Tuscaloosa, when he returned the Crimson Tide to the pinnacle of collegiate football, will go down in history as his most memorable period.
The Tide went 206-29 (.877) in his 17 years at Alabama, winning national titles in 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017 and 2019.
Because of how successful his Alabama teams were, Nick Saban became the unofficial face of college football, appearing in everything from insurance company commercials to a cameo in the hugely popular film “The Blind Side.”
In an update on a social media website dedicated to Nick’s Kids Foundation, Saban’s nonprofit
Along with his teams winning national championships, Nick Saban also received personal recognition. In 2013, he was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame. In 2003 and 2008, respectively, he was awarded the Associated Press National Coach of the Year while coaching LSU and Alabama.
Greg Byrne, the director of athletics at the University of Alabama, referred to Nick Saban as “one of the greatest coaches of all time, in any sport.” An announcement about a new coach was delayed.
Students crowded around and snapped pictures of a monument of Saban on campus on Wednesday night, according to footage from Birmingham-based NBC station WVTM.
Born in Fairmont, West Virginia, Saban attended Kent State University in Ohio to play football.
His first position as head coach was at the University of
