Could Nick Saban come back to College Football? Everyone knows the stories of college of professional athletes or coaches who try to step away from the game but keep finding themselves drawn back to it years, months, or even weeks later. This may seem odd to the common person who dreams every day of retirement and never looks back, but this is different.
Coaches and players have to be obsessed with their sport to make it to the highest level. A football coach has to eat, drink, breathe, and dream about football 24/7 if they ever hope to make it to the top. That’s why Tom Brady, Pete Carroll and even Bill Belichick seem to struggle to leave the game so much.
Nick Saban made it to the top and was there for a long time. Now, as an analyst, some are starting to wonder if he likes being on the outside looking in.
Nick Saban on Why He Left College Football
Nick Saban stepped away from coaching college football this past season after leading the Crimson Tide to another College Football Playoff birth. His retirement took the sports world by storm as nobody saw the move coming. Yes, Saban is 72 years old, and he certainly has achieved enough in his career to be at least in the conversation as the greatest coach of all time, but it was still a shock to see him step away.
Saban did share comments on what may led to his retirement, sharing the following:
“I thought we could have a hell of a team next year, and then maybe 70 or 80 percent of the players you talk to, all they want to know is two things: What assurances do I have that I’m going to play because they’re thinking about transferring, and how much are you going to pay me?,”
“So I’m saying to myself, ‘Maybe this doesn’t work anymore, that the goals and aspirations are just different and that it’s all about how much money can I make as a college player?’ I’m not saying that’s bad. I’m not saying it’s wrong, I’m just saying that’s never been what we were all about, and it’s not why we had success through the years.”
Everyone knew that Saban didn’t love NIL or the transfer portal, but even in these comments, he never explicitly says that is why he decided to leave. Rather, he shares a concern that he had, and it put him in a tough spot.
He never actually said he was done with football forever. Very soon after, he signed a deal with ESPN to work as an analyst and be part of the ‘College Gameday’ show on ESPN every Saturday morning during the season.
Saban Asked if he May Come Back
During SEC Media Days, College Football reporter Brett McMurphy asked Nick Saban an interesting question about returning to college football. He asked him the following question:
“If there were to be a College Football Commissioner, would you be interested?”
“You’d have to ask Miss Terry.”
Miss Terry, of course, is Nick Saban’s wife, and the answer is both a light joke and an interesting response. College Football desperately needs some kind of governing body, which very well could include a commissioner, and who better to do it than Coach Saban?
Of course, many would oppose the idea, considering he coached in the SEC, works primarily with the SEC Network, and is pretty invested in the league itself. Still, he’s a shoo-in in terms of being qualified, understanding the game, and being respected.
The fact that Saban didn’t completely disregard the question or pivot another way says that perhaps there is a chance that he would be interested in the position if it ever were to open up. This becomes even more interesting when you consider that one of the main reasons college football needs a central governing body is the chaos of the transfer portal, NIL, and tv contracts.
Considering that is likely what drove Saban to step away from the game, one has to wonder whether the prospect of fixing those issues would be the main driver in getting him right back into it.
