Alabama head coach Nick Saban claps as he enters the stadium for the 2016 game. File photo by Cameron Brooks.

In the wake of a 12-2 season and a loss to Michigan in the Rose Bowl, Nick Saban shockingly announced his retirement as the head coach of Alabama on Jan. 10.

With 28 seasons under his belt, many people consider Saban to be the greatest college football coach in the history of the sport. He has been named Coach of the Year six times. His accomplishments include seven national championships, 11 SEC championships, 49 first-round NFL draft picks and many more. Under Saban’s leadership, the Crimson Tide has had a record of 292-71-1 in college football games.

Saban’s journey to Bama

Saban started as a graduate assistant at Kent State in 1973. He moved on to be the linebackers coach for the same team and was later hired by Syracuse to be its linebackers coach. After Syracuse, Saban went on to be the defensive backs coach for three teams: West Virginia, Ohio State and Navy. Michigan State hired him to be defensive coordinator in 1983.

Then, the NFL came calling. The Houston Oilers, now the Tennessee Titans, hired Saban to be the defensive backs coach in 1988. Saban went back to the college level to get his first head coaching gig at Toledo in 1990. A year later, he went back to the NFL to be the defensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns. However, Michigan State came calling again in 1995, hiring Saban to be the head coach.

In 2000, Saban made his first appearance in the SEC, becoming the head coach of the LSU Tigers. His team won the BCS national title in 2003. He left Baton Rouge to become the Miami Dolphins’ head coach. After two devastating seasons, with Saban’s team going 15-17, Alabama came calling in 2007, and Saban answered. The rest is history.

An impressive coaching tree

Throughout his career, Saban established one of the most impressive coaching trees in football, with many of his former assistants finding success as head coaches.

Jimbo Fisher was one of Saban’s LSU hires, where he served as offensive coordinator. In 2010, Fisher was hired as head coach of Florida State, where he won a national championship

Will Muschamp was an assistant at LSU and followed Saban to the Miami Dolphins. He was picked to succeed Urban Myer at Florida in 2010. After his stop in the swamp, he was head coach at South Carolina and has found a home with the Georgia Bulldogs as part of their back-to-back national championship runs.

Lane Kiffin is one of the more famous Saban assistants. He was hired as the offensive coordinator of the Crimson Tide in 2014 before becoming head coach at Florida Atlantic University in 2016. Kiffin joined the Ole Miss Rebels in 2020. After securing a win at the Peach Bowl against Penn State, Kiffin is primed to lead Ole Miss once again for the 2024 season.

Kirby Smart was an assistant coach at Alabama until he received an offer to coach at his alma mater, Georgia, in 2015. Since joining the Bulldogs, he has given Saban a run for his money several times and has won two national championships.

Who’s next?

Just a few days after Saban’s retirement announcement, the University of Alabama announced that Kalen DeBoer is the school’s new head coach. DeBoer, who was recently named Associated Press coach of the year, is coming off a 14-1 season. His Washington Huskies played in the national championship game, losing to Michigan. The Crimson Tide is certain they got their guy.