Nick Saban isn't one of a kind.
There were several elite coaches like him when he left Michigan State for LSU after the 1999 season. It's the way Saban separated himself from the rest of those coaches in the 21st century. That longevity of success made Saban the GOAT – and there will never be another like him.
He's the best of his kind.
When Saban won his first national championship at LSU in 2003, the list of active coaches with a national title at their school consisted of USC's Pete Carroll, Ohio State's Jim Tressel, Miami's Larry Coker, Michigan's Lloyd Carr, Oklahoma's Bob Stoops, Florida State's Bobby Bowden, Tennessee's Phillip Fulmer and Penn State's Joe Paterno.
When Saban retired from Alabama on Wednesday, that list of coaches included Georgia's Kirby Smart, Clemson's Dabo Swinney and Michigan's Jim Harbaugh. North Carolina's Mack Brown is the only other active coach with a national championship, and that was won at Texas.
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Why Nick Saban dominated college football
No coach dominated the sport quite like Saban from 2003-23. Sure, other coaches had success. Urban Meyer won two national titles at Florida (2006, 2008) and one at Ohio State (2014) and went through Saban-coached teams twice to do it. Swinney and Smart earned their national championship stripes by beating Saban, too.
Saban won seven national championships and 12 SEC championships through that tenure at LSU and Alabama. While the term "The Process” induced eyerolls – didn't Saban have the best players? – he got the most out of that four- and five-star blue-chip talent.
"Unlike most coaches – most coaches I've been around in any sport – the grind of it and the competitive nature of it chips away at you a little bit year by year by year,” ESPN's Rece Davis told Sporting News on Jan. 6. "Nick is different. Nick needs it.”
Davis added the caveat that it could change at any minute, and on Wednesday it did. The expectation then was that Saban, 72, would keep going into the 12-team College Football Playoff era. The truth is he didn't need to.
Nick Saban's national title runs in BCS, CFP eras
Saban dominated the BCS era with a national title at LSU (2003) and three with Alabama (2009, 2011-12). If not for the "Kick Six” against Auburn on Nov, 30, 2013, the Crimson Tide might have won three national championships in a row.
Saban also dominated the CFP era with eight CFP appearances, six CFP championship game appearances and three more national championships (2015, 2017, 2020).
The fact he did in the most dominant conference in the FBS through that time is amazing. Combine Saban's record in SEC championship games (11-1), BCS championship games (4-0) and CFP semifinal and championship games (9-5), and you get 24-6. There is no question Saban is the greatest big-stage of all time, especially when you consider Meyer, Smart, Swinney and Harbaugh were the only coaches to beat him on those stages.
Was it just about the players? Saban evolved from a ball-control, defense-first model in the BCS era to a more wide-open offense in the CFP era – a necessary adjustment to the pass-first nature of college football. He also made the gutsiest decision in the 2018 CFP championship game when he benched Jalen Hurts at halftime in favor of Tua Tagovailoa – who threw the game-winning TD pass in overtime for a 26-23 victory against Georgia. Then, Saban managed to keep both quarterbacks on the roster through the following season.
Hurts and Tagovailoa will be among the quarterbacks playing in the NFL playoffs this weekend. Saban had four Heisman Trophy winners in Mark Ingram (2009), Derrick Henry (2015), DeVonta Smith (2020) and Bryce Young (2021), and they played three different positions.
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Saban had a presence that no other coach could replicate. Every year at SEC Media Days – especially the ones at Hoover, Ala. – he required security to get through the throngs of Alabama fans just wanting to catch a glimpse at the coach and scream, "Roll Tide.” He wore sweaters to College Football Playoff media availability. He made Little Debbies and Coke a signature breakfast in Alabama, and he always kept reporters on their best behavior.
After a Tennessee-Alabama game, I remember the late longtime Alabama writer Cecil Hurt saying, "It's lit” while Saban started to grow irritated with a question after a blowout victory against the Volunteers. That was the warning not to ask the next question and be a victim of a Saban outburst.
I didn't learn that lesson. I asked Saban a poorly-worded question a few years later about the Crimson Tide being underdogs and that angle being used a lot leading up to the CFP championship game against Georgia in 2022. The transcript still tells the tale.
"Coach Saban, you mentioned the focus of your team, and Bryce talked about that yesterday. I know the rematch and underdog angle has been talked about a lot. So, how has your team used or blocked those angles out ahead of another championship game?”
"Well, when you say 'those angles have been used a lot,' used by whom?” Saban asked back.
Busted. I still hear about it from time to time from a few reporters. He made reporters better, and he always thanked the media after Alabama's final game.
He made players better. You could form an NFL team out of former Alabama players and make the postseason.
He made college football better, and always used that power as the most-influential voice to address concerns within the sport.
Saban was vocal that the expansion of the College Football Playoff would diminish the value of the other bowls. That happened. Saban was vocal that Name, Image and Likeness would get out of control, especially if it was done irresponsibly. That happened. Saban voiced concerns about the recruiting calendar and transfer portal. That confluence of factors has led to massive realignment and a game that is completely different from the one Saban dominated for the last two decades.
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Is that why Saban decided to retire? It could be a contributing factor, but you could also say this year's Alabama team had no business making the College Football Playoff. Yet they beat two-time defending national champion Georgia in the SEC championship and took eventual national champion Michigan to overtime in one of the best Rose Bowls of all time.
He could no doubt coach for the next five years, but what is left to prove? College football teams are searching for the next Ted Lasso now, and there are great lessons to be learned from that show and approach with the modern athlete. The problem? Lasso is a fictional character, and that show lasted three seasons.
The real-life grind and pressure of an FBS college football coach is a different story, one that requires evolution to stay at the top. Saban did that for most of the 21st century.
One of a kind. Last of his kind. It doesn't matter.
Nobody will do it quite like that again.