With Alabama in yet another College Football Playoff, the question that comes up from time to time is, how long can Coach Nick Saban keep going?
Saban is 72 years old and has won seven national championships, six at Alabama and one at LSU, in 26 years as a college coach. No other active coach has more than two.
Saban’s Alabama team will meet Michigan in the College Football Playoff national semifinals in the Rose Bowl Monday at 5 p.m. ET.
He has a record of 274-67-1, and 183-25 at Alabama. His Crimson Tide teams have won eight SEC championships and he won another two at LSU.
There doesn’t seem to be a lot more out there to accomplish. So could he decide to hang it up if the Crimson Tide can beat Michigan in Monday’s national semifinal, then win the College Football Championship game on Jan. 8?
Alabama defensive coordinator Kevin Steele was asked the question at a press conference on Friday. The one about the 70-something maybe being ready to hit the beach or the golf course or just do nothing.
“I’ve heard it,” Steele told reporters. “So, yeah, it’s always going to be out there, and I will tell you this: Nobody knows that answer except for him.”
Nick Saban’s accomplishments are second to none
If or when Saban retires, he will go down as the greatest college football coach in history.
Nobody has won more national championships, nor has anyone had the type of consistency he has had, especially since he came to Alabama.
Saban’s teams have had double-digit wins every year since 2008, a remarkable feat playing in the Southeastern Conference, which is widely regarded as the best college football confernece.
He has taken 30 teams to bowl games and has a 19-11 record. At Alabama, he’s 16-6. Only once since 2001 has he coached a team that didn’t finish in the Top 25.
He hasn’t faced a large number of transfers like other coaches because his teams are always in the championship hunt.