Nick Saban: The players’ reactions to the Rose Bowl defeat “contributed” to their retirement decision

Jan. 10 marked Saban’s retirement from Alabama after 17 seasons and six national titles.

Nick Saban was not pleased with his team’s response to the Rose Bowl setback.

On January 1, Alabama lost the College Football Playoff game 27–20 to Michigan, the eventual national champion. Jalen Milroe’s fourth-down run was halted at the line of scrimmage, which led to the overtime defeat. After a low snap that looked like a planned run/pass option, Milroe streaked into the end zone.

Less than two weeks after the game, Saban surprised the college football world by announcing his retirement. It turned out to be the last one of his career. The way several players on his team behaved following the loss and in the days that followed “contributed” to Saban’s decision to hang up the helmet after the 2023 season, he told ESPN in an account detailing his decision-making process to retire and Alabama’s subsequent coaching search.

Regarding his choice to retire, Saban stated, “I want to be clear that wasn’t the reason, but some of those events certainly contributed.” “The players’ behavior following the game truly let me down. You must prevail with grace. You must fail the class. We had our chances to win the game, but we didn’t, so acting like an asshole, getting angry, tossing helmets, and doing other such things isn’t who we are or what our program is about.”

Additionally, Saban discussed how his choice was impacted by the way the college football scene is evolving. He calculated that “maybe 70 or 80% of the players you talk to” were interested in learning how much money they would be getting in NIL for the forthcoming season and how much playing time they would have.

As the most successful college football coach in recent memory, Saban retired. In the College Football Playoff era, he made the Crimson Tide into a machine and his teams won seven national titles, including six at Alabama. Alabama advanced eight times to the postseason in the ten years of the four-team playoff system. Not a single team reached the six-point mark.

But Saban’s decision to retire was not made on the spur of the moment. He had been contemplating the end of his professional life for some time. At the conclusion of the 2022 season, Saban informed Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne that he was getting close to retirement.

“Greg, I’m finding this harder and harder,” Saban said to Byrne. “I’m not ready to do it now, but we’re going to have to start evaluating this more on a year-to-year basis.”

After Saban announced his retirement, Alabama acted swiftly to find a replacement. After Kalen DeBoer guided Washington to its second consecutive postseason berth and its first CFP national championship game, the Crimson Tide selected DeBoer as their new coach to replace Nick Saban. During a hectic college football offseason, which also saw Jim Harbaugh of Michigan leave for the NFL and Chip Kelly of UCLA join Ohio State as the Buckeyes’ offensive coordinator, Saban announced his retirement.

Conversely, Saban will continue to play a big role in college football. He will join ESPN as an analyst in 2024, having previously worked as a guest analyst when his schedule permitted.