The greatest coach in the history of college football is calling it a career. According to Chris Low of ESPN, longtime Alabama coach Nick Saban will retire following a 12-2 season in which the Crimson Tide won the SEC and made it to the College Football Playoff.
Nick Saban is retiring, sources tell ESPN. He won six national titles at Alabama.
— Chris Low (@ClowESPN) January 10, 2024
The news was confirmed by Brett McMurphy of Action Network, who pegged Oregon coach Dan Lanning as a “top target.”
Alabama’s Nick Saban is retiring, sources told @ActionNetworkHQ. 1st reported by@ClowESPN. Oregon’s Dan Lanning expected to be top target to replace Saban, source told @ActionNetworkHQ
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) January 10, 2024
Saban, who turned 72 this season, has been at the helm in Tuscaloosa since 2007, where he has led the Crimson Tide to six national championships. In his collegiate career — which included stops at Toledo, Michigan State, and LSU — Saban accrued a 292-71-1 record. In addition to the titles that he won at Alabama, Saban led LSU to a national championship during the 2003 campaign.
His coaching career did feature a brief stop in the NFL, as Saban left the Tigers to take over the Miami Dolphins in 2005. He went 15-17 in that time before deciding to return to the collegiate ranks at Alabama, and after a down year during his first season in 2007, Saban has managed to win double-digit games in every season that he’s spent at the school. His most recent national championship and undefeated season came in 2020.
The Crimson Tide’s season came to an end in the College Football Playoff semifinals this year, when the team lost to Michigan in the Rose Bowl.