Wednesday, January 10th, 2024, will forever be remembered as the day Coach Nick Saban decided to retire from being the Head Coach at Alabama. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand the magnitude of the day; for those of the older generation, Coach Saban announcing his retirement is the equivalent of Coach Bear Bryant and Vince Dooley doing the same. For the younger crowd, Coach Saban’s retirement signals the end of a storied childhood of watching his programs inflict pain and suffering on some and others’ Championships and celebrations. Either way, Wednesday afternoon was shocking and oddly bittersweet for everyone involved with college football.

In his 28 seasons on the sidelines, Coach Saban lost just 71 games, winning 297, combined with 7 National Championships. There will never be another coach with the level of success and the impact that Coach Saban has had on the sport. Not having Coach Saban on the sidelines will feel weird next season.

You can hate the guy all you want, but if you were honest with yourself, the distaste for Coach Saban and his programs stems from years of jealousy of him owning your programs without an end. Now that he’s stepping away, you realize that your team finally has a shot at a National Championship without having to look over your shoulder for Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide to come around the corner to ruin your day. It didn’t matter who Alabama or LSU was playing; you knew as long as Coach Saban was the Head Coach, he’d have his boys ready to play to compete at the highest of levels. Every game was just the next one on schedule for Coach Saban. What separated him from the others was how he carried his programs to the highest standards in everything they did.

As much of a shock as the announcement was this afternoon, Coach Saban went out on his terms and is still the most respected coach in football. According to multiple sources, Coach Saban spent his last day as Head Coach working with fever, making sure Alabama Football would be in the best position possible to continue on the standard he outlined in his 17 seasons as Head Coach of the Crimson Tide.

Replacing Coach Saban will be no easy task. Alabama will have their pick of the litter for guys to replace a legend. The tricky part is who wants to be the guy to replace Coach Saban, inheriting the expectations that come with it. Two guys in particular come to mind in discussing the opening at Alabama. The first was Dan Lanning at Oregon, and the second was Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss. Both guys have experience under Coach Saban. With proven track records, either would strike excitement for Alabama fans and fear in their opponents. Other names to keep an eye on as the search progresses are Dabo, Sark, Schumann, and DeBoer.

Expect Alabama to move swiftly to sustain the roster turnover expected in the era of the transfer portal.