Alabama Football: Where Does Nick Saban Rank Among All-Time Great Tide Coaches?

Alabama is one of the most storied and prestigious programs in college football history, and the Tide certainly have the coaching tradition to back that up.

Nick Saban is the latest in a long line of great coaches that includes a few of the best that have ever walked the sideline.

Five different coaches have won national championships for the Tide, and Saban joined that elite company back in 2009 when he led the Tide to the school's first national championship since 1992.

After a few years of futility during the tenures of coaches like Mike DuBose and Mike Shula, Alabama has regained its luster under Saban and the Tide look poised to be one of college football’s truly dominant teams for the foreseeable future.

So the question has to be asked then: where does Nick Saban rank among Alabama’s all-time great coaches?

5. Gene Stallings

Gene Stallings was one of the original Junction Boys, who played for Bear Bryant during his coaching tenure at Texas A&M.

After he graduated, Stallings followed Bryant to Alabama where he coached for eight years before heading back to A&M to take over as head coach.

After a stint in the NFL, Stallings found his way back to Tuscaloosa in 1990 and proceeded to guide the Tide 70 wins (62 wins if you count the forfeits from the 1993 season) in six seasons, a national championship and an SEC championship in 1992 and four SEC West division titles.

He finished his coaching career at Alabama with a .713 winning percentage.

4. Frank Thomas

Frank Thomas took over for Wallace Wade after the 1930 season when Wade left for Duke, and he continued the tradition of success that his predecessor had installed.

Thomas would end up winning 115 games, including two national championships and four conference championships, during his 16-year tenure in Tuscaloosa.

3. Wallace Wade

Although he only coached at Alabama for seven years, Wallace Wade still managed to win three national championships in 1925, 1926 and 1930 along with four conference championships, and he was considered one of the best college football coaches of the 1930s.

The 1925 national championship was the first ever for the football program.

During his time at Alabama, Wade compiled a remarkable record of 61-13-4 (.812 winning percentage) and he turned out to be the coach that was the catalyst for Alabama’s national dominance.

2. Nick Saban

After enduring a rough 7-6 campaign in his first season back in 2007, Nick Saban went on to win 36 games over the next three seasons, including a national championship, an SEC championship and two SEC West division titles.

After leading his team out to an 8-0 start this year, Saban now has a total record of 51-11 at Alabama and his .823 winning percentage ranks second all-time in school history.

You know you’re doing a pretty good job at a school when after four years they decide to build a statue of you.

If Saban sticks at Alabama for the long haul, he should have Alabama in the Top 5 on a consistent basis for the next decade.

He’s the best recruiter and one of the hardest workers in college coaching right now, and so far, all of that hard work has certainly paid off.

1. Paul "Bear" Bryant

What’s left to say about The Bear that hasn’t already been said?

Bear Bryant is Alabama football and there’s no other player or coach that has ever, or probably will ever, stand on the sideline in Tuscaloosa that could mean more to the football program than Bryant did.

Throughout a career that spanned four decades at Alabama, Bryant won six national championships, 13 conference championships and compiled 232 wins.

He’s set marks that no other Alabama coach will probably ever reach, and his legacy will never die.