Nick Saban retires: Seven-time national championship-winning coach, 72, exits Alabama after 17 seasons

Alabama coach Nick Saban, 72, has decided to retire, ending a run that ranks among the greatest in college football history, according to 247Sports’ Matt Zenitz. The seven-time national championship-winning coach leaves the game having spent his last 17 seasons with the Crimson Tide.

Saban informed the Tide of his decision in a team meeting Wednesday, according to ESPN’s Chris Low, who first reported the retirement. Alabama was eliminated in the 2023 College Football Playoff semifinal, ending its season with a 27-20 overtime loss to eventual national champion Michigan in the Rose Bowl.

Saban’s seven national titles — one at LSU (2003) and six at Alabama (2009, 2011-12, 2015, 2017, 2020), the latter total matching legendary Tide coach Paul “Bear” Bryant — stand as the most in the sport’s history. He is the only coach to win national championships across three decades as well as the only coach since the inception of the AP Top 25 in 1936 to win national championships with two separate FBS programs.

Saban, known for his stern coaching style and confident yet fiery approach, also won 11 SEC championships — two at LSU (2001, 2003) and nine at Alabama (2009, 2012, 2014-16, 2018, 2020-21, 2023) — making him the only coach other than Bryant to win SEC titles at two different schools. Alabama won 10+ games and finished among the top 10 of the AP Top 25 across each of the final 16 seasons of Saban’s career. The Tide have appeared in the AP Top 25 for 260 consecutive weeks since the start of the 2008 season, and their 104 wins over ranked opponents under Saban are by far the most in the AP Top 25 era.

His 292 wins — most among active coaches this past season — across a career that included stops leading Toledo (1990), Michigan State (1995-99), LSU (2000-04) and Alabama (2007-23) rank him as the 15th winningest coach in the game’s history. His career college record stands at 292–71-1 with his .806 winning percentage ranking him 16th among coaches who led programs for a minimum of 10 seasons. In the 10-year history of the CFP, Alabama’s eight appearances are the most of any school.

Saban coached four Heisman Trophy winners while leading the Crimson Tide — Mark Ingram II (2009), Derrick Henry (2015), DeVonta Smith (2020) and Bryce Young (2021) — and he holds a record having coached 49 first-round NFL Draft picks in his career.

Saban was hired by Alabama in 2007 to reverse the fortunes of one of college football’s most storied and successful programs, which won its last national title in 1992. The transformative nature of the Tide’s run under Saban — particularly the peak, which saw them capture those six national titles in a 12-year span from 2009-20 — established a new standard of excellence that the rest of the nation was forced to chase.

Some programs tried to adapt by hiring Saban’s assistants to lead their teams, while others simply copied Saban’s blueprint for how to staff, evaluate, recruit and run a modern college football program.

Saban’s time in football extended beyond the college ranks into the NFL. His season at Toledo led to Saban joining Bill Belichick’s staff as defensive coordinator of the Cleveland Browns from 1991-94. After stints at Michigan State and LSU, the latter of which included his first national championship, Saban accepted the head coaching position with the Miami Dolphins. He spent just two years with the Dolphins, amassing a 15-17 record in Miami, before deciding the college game suited him best.

A former high school quarterback out of West Virginia, Saban played defensive back at Kent State (1970-72) before beginning his coaching career at his alma mater. He later made stops as a position coach — always on defense — at Syracuse (1977), West Virginia (1978-79), Ohio State (1980-81), Navy (1982), Michigan State (1983-87) and with the Houston Oilers (1988-89).

Alabama has yet to announce Saban’s retirement.

CBS Sports will update this breaking news story shortly.