Have you heard the breaking Alabama football news about Nick Saban? Actually, some of what is being said and written about Saban needs a label other than news.
The purported to be news is that Nick Saban and his family have decided the 2023 season will be his last as Alabama Football’s Head Coach. This means it would be his last as a coach because Nick Saban will never leave the University of Alabama to coach another team.
One reason why the recent retirement claims are implausible is supposedly Saban has already told close friends about the decision. There is no chance that is true. Saban has always been zealous about message management and it is inconceivable he would risk word leaking about a decision that would rock the Alabama football world.
It is not surprising there are so many Saban retirement claims. They began years ago, driven by sleazy reporting and lust for an Alabama Crimson Tide demise. They flashed again in the offseason when it was learned the Sabans had bought a new home on the east coast of Florida. Little reported was the fact the west coast of Florida home owned by the Sabans was damaged by a hurricane.
Let’s be clear. Nothing here includes inside information. The same is true about anything else you read on the subject. All of what is written is opinion fueled by motivations different from providing information based on fact.
Some Alabama football fans think it could be true
Alabama football message boards show some Crimson Tide fans find the claim plausible. Though I disagree, it is not impossible Nick Saban will quit coaching after the 2023 season. There are sound reasons why he might make the decision. I’ll skip the conjecture about why he might retire because I doubt anyone other than Terry and Nick Saban knows anything about a retirement plan or the potential motivations behind one.
Nick Saban will probably retire. Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant came close to dying on the job and I doubt Saban wants such an ending. The ‘when’ could be any point in the future from days to many years.
From day one as the Crimson Tide head coach, the story was Nick Saban would bail on Alabama within a few short years. In the world of college football reporting, never have so many been so wrong.
Whenever a Saban retirement happens, it will mark the end of a coaching career for the game’s greatest of all time.
On Thursday Nick Saban, while talking to Pat McAfee said the retirement reports are “laughable” and that
"I feel great right now. I love it. We’ve got lots of challenges right now. I’m looking forward to it. We’re all in."
Not saying it is happening now, but some Alabama football competitors choose to spread such disinformation to damage Crimson Tide recruiting.