Nick Saban retires: Former Alabama players, coaching rivals react as legendary Tide coach calls it quits

Alabama coach Nick Saban shocked the college football world Wednesday when he suddenly announced his retirement after 17 seasons with the Crimson Tide. The 72-year-old won seven national titles — one at LSU (2003) and six at Alabama (2009, 2011-12, 2015, 2017, 2020). That is tied with fellow legendary Alabama coach Paul “Bear” Bryant for the most in college football history. 

Saban guided Alabama to eight College Football Playoff appearances during his time at the school — the most of any program in the CFP era. Current college football coaches and his former players at Alabama were quick to weigh in on the end of one of the sport’s most decorated careers. 

Earlier in the day, the Seattle Seahawks announced that Pete Carroll would not return as their coach in 2024 — ending a 14-year run in the Pacific Northwest. Texas coach Steve Sarkisian was the offensive coordinator at USC from 2007-08 under Carroll and the offensive coordinator at Alabama under Saban from 2019-2020 before taking the job at Texas. He paid tribute to both his former bosses in one tweet. 

Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin also paid respect to two of his former bosses. Kiffin served as an assistant under Carroll at USC from 2001-06. He later worked with Saban at Alabama as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach from 2014-16. Kiffin is considered one of the candidates in the Tide’s search to replace Saban after spending the last four seasons with the Rebels. 

Colorado coach Deion Sanders weighed in on Saban’s retirement, giving praise to his Aflac commercial co-star. He also insinuated that Saban’s departure may be related to the many changes the college football has seen over the past few years. The sport’s landscape has undergone major shifts with both…

Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/nick-saban-retires-former-alabama-players-coaching-rivals-react-as-legendary-tide-coach-calls-it-quits/

Author : Cameron Salerno

Publish date : 2024-01-11 04:26:14

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