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Nick Saban Talks Future at Alabama After 6th Career National Championship
January 9, 2018
Following Alabama's stirring, come-from-behind victory over Georgia in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game on Monday, Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban commented on his future with the program.
When asked how much longer he intends to coach, Saban offered the following response, according to ESPN.com's Alex Scarborough:
"As long as I feel like I can do a good job for the players and the team—from an energy level, from a focus level, from a concentration level, from providing a good staff of people around them to help them have success. These are things that I know that I cannot do forever, but they're certainly things that I have enjoyed and hope I can continue to enjoy in the future."
By virtue of Monday's 26-23 overtime win, Saban became a five-time national champion with Alabama and a six-time national champion overall dating back to his head coaching stint at LSU.
Saban's victory tied him with legendary Alabama head coach Bear Bryant for the most national championship wins by a head coach, and a gutsy decision went a long way toward achieving that feat.
With starting quarterback Jalen Hurts struggling mightily in the first half and Alabama trailing 13-0 to Georgia at halftime, Saban pulled Hurts in favor of freshman Tua Tagovailoa.
That move paid major dividends, as Tagovailoa threw for 166 yards, three touchdowns and one interception in the second half, including a game-winning, 41-yard touchdown strike to DeVonta Smith in overtime.
In 11 seasons at Alabama, the 66-year-old Saban owns a 132-20 record. The Tide have lost only one game in each of the past three seasons and reached the national title game in each of those years as well.
Overall, Saban has 22 years of college head coaching experience at Toledo, Michigan State, LSU and Alabama, accounting for a career record of 223-62-1.
He is 14th on the all-time FBS wins list and has a chance to move past coaching legends such as Steve Spurrier, Hayden Fry and Bo Schembechler next season before taking aim at those in the top 10, including Mack Brown, Frank Beamer and Lou Holtz.