It’s the dawn of a new era in college football. Alabama head coach Nick Saban announced his retirement Wednesday, following a season in which the Crimson Tide came up just short of a national championship appearance.
Despite Georgia’s emergence as a powerhouse in recent seasons, Saban created a dynasty at Alabama, one that continued with an SEC title in 2023. He leaves the program as arguably the best college football coach in history.
A look back at Saban’s head coaching career provides almost too many accomplishments to list, including an impressive overall record of 292-71-2.
That includes seven national championships, 11 SEC championships and one MAC championship. He also won the SEC Coach of Year award twice, the Paul “Bear” Bryant Award winner twice and the Walter Camp Coach of the Year award twice, and he was twice named the Associated Press Coach of the Year.
Saban, now 72 years old, joined Alabama as head coach starting in 2007 and spent 17 seasons with the Crimson Tide. After winning his first national championship with LSU in 2003, he led Alabama to the title in 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017 and 2020.
His head coaching career began at Toledo in 1990. He resigned after just one season to join head coach Bill Belichick’s staff with the Cleveland Browns. In 1995, he began a five-year stint as head coach at Michigan State.
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