Nick Saban is latest championship-winning coach to exit amid drastic changes to college sports
When Nick Saban retired after 17 seasons and six national title with the Crimson Tide, he joined Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, North Carolina’s Roy Williams, Notre Dame’s Muffet McGraw and Villanova’s Jay Wright has championship-winning college coaches in high-profile sports to call it a career over the last four years
Two years ago, Nick Saban sat at the head of a long, cluttered table in the meeting room adjacent to his office and talked about how college football was rapidly changing in ways that would challenge the process he used to build the Alabama dynasty.
“Whether we’re recruiting you or whether you’re on our team, your focus should be on development,” Saban told the AP in March 2022. "It’s my job is to create a platform where you have a chance to develop and be successful as a person and as a student and as a player. I’d like to continue to do that.
“If that’s the case, you’re going to create more long-term value for yourself. You’re going to graduate. You’re going to have a better chance to develop as a football player and play at the next level. We want to continue to focus on development of players.”
Saban retired Wednesday after 17 seasons and six national title with the Crimson Tide, joining Duke's Mike Krzyzewski, North Carolina's Roy Williams, Notre Dame's Muffet McGraw and Villanova's Jay Wright among championship-winning college coaches in high-profile sports to call it a career over the last four years.
