In a massive stunner, legendary NCAA football head coach Nick Saban announced his retirement on Wednesday following a historic 17-year run with the Alabama Crimson Tide.
There had been whispers about Saban potentially walking away after the season, but nothing firm to indicate that he was truly ready to walk away. Saban won seven national championship as a head coach, one with LSU and six with the Crimson Tide.
On X/Twitter, Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders seemed to suggest the theory that Saban chose to walk away because of the NIL (name, likeness, image) deals. Saban himself was a vocal critic of such deals after the NCAA altered its rules that allow athletes to make money off their NIL.
Speaking to ESPN’s Chris Low after his retirement announcement, though, Saban made it clear that NIL deals did not play a factor in his decision to ride off into the sunset:
“Don’t make it about that. It’s not about that. To me, if you choose to coach, you don’t need to be complaining about all that stuff. You need to adjust to it and adapt to it and do the best you can under the circumstances and not complain about it. Now, I think everybody is frustrated about it. We had an SEC conference call, 14 coaches on there [Wednesday], and there’s not one guy you can talk to who really understands what’s happening in college football and thinks that it’s not an issue.”
Saban’s retirement announcement came hours after Pete Carroll stepped down as head coach of the Seattle Seahawks. Saban’s longtime friend, Bill Belichick, announced one day later that he was also walking away as head coach of the New England Patriots.
