Nick Saban retirement speech: College football legend bids farewell to Alabama in interview with ESPN’s Rece Davis

Nick Saban’s decision to hang up his headset took the college football world by surprise. It wasn’t one he took lightly, either.

The former Alabama coach discussed his decision to step away from the game he loved in an interview with ESPN’s Rece Davis that aired on Sportscenter on Thursday.

In the one-on-one, Saban detailed some of the factors that led him away from the sidelines. He also highlighted some potential avenues he’s considering exploring as he tries to reimagine life outside of the coaching bubble.

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Here are some of the highlights of the seven-time national champion’s conversation with Davis.

Nick Saban interviewSaban spent 17 years sulking along the boundary at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Although he loved masquerading as a crow as he watched players crash into one another, the 72-year-old admitted that the grind of coaching was starting to wear thin on him.

“To be honest, this last season was grueling,” Saban said. “It was a real grind for us to come from where we started to where we got to. It took a little more out of me than usual.

“When people mention the health issue, it was really just the grind of ‘Can you do this the way you want to do it?’ ‘Can you do it the way you’ve always done it and be able to sustain it and do it for the entire season?’

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“If I couldn’t make a commitment to do that in the future the way I think I have to do it, I thought maybe this was the right time — based on those two sets of circumstances. There’s never a good time. But I thought maybe this was the right time.”

Saban confirmed that he was neither he nor any of his inner circle with dealing with health issues. At 72, though, he just doesn’t have the same vivaciousness as he once used to.

“When I was young, I could work ’til 2 in the morning, get up at 6 and be there the next day and be full of energy and go for it,” Saban said. “But when you get a little older, that gets a little tougher.”

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Saban’s choice was no foregone conclusion. He straddled between staying and leaving minutes before making his actual announcement to the team, he told Davis.

“We had a meeting at 4:00 p.m.. At 3:55 p.m., I was sitting in my chair looking at the clock saying ‘You got five minutes to decide which speech you’re going to give.'”

In the end, Saban decided to release the reins with the Crimson Tide. He cited his age as a contributing factor.

“When you get my age, it’s inevitable that it’s coming,” Saban said. “This year, next year or the next year [after]. And I didn’t want to work on a year-to-year basis. I don’t think that’s fair to your staff. I don’t think that’s fair to the players. I think you need to make long-term commitments to people.”

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One thing that didn’t impact Saban’s choice? The changing landscape of college football. Name, image and likeness (NIL) deals and transfer silliness be damned, Saban vowed to be “an advocate” for making the sport “as good as it can be.”

So, just what awaits Saban in his post-coaching career? Saban isn’t quite sure. He knows one thing, though. He has to keep working.

“I don’t want to get up and watch Netflix,” Saban said. “I want to do something.”

When Davis asked whether Saban would be interested in joining the Worldwide Leader in Sports as an analyst, Saban didn’t seem opposed to it. He’ll have to act quickly, though.

“I’d probably like to do that,” Saban said. “But somebody told me once you can’t start a broadcasting career when you’re 80.”