I believed Nick Saban, in spite of some ridicule, even though I'd barely gotten to know the man.
In the early months and even the early years of Saban's tenure as the Alabama football coach , he was asked − and fairly regularly − how long he intended to stick around. Or how he could assure recruits that he would still be at the helm of the Crimson Tide when they graduated in four years. Or whether he had interest in this job or that job.
Still in his 50s at the time, with plenty of gas left in his career tank, Saban would answer any such question the same way: that he intended to make Alabama his final coaching stop.
People scoffed, calling him a coaching gypsy.
COMMEMORATIVE SABAN BOOK: Order The Tuscaloosa News' special book detailing Nick Saban's 17 seasons as Crimson Tide coach
It's a little hard to believe that Saban, who now remains in the employ of the University of Alabama for a 19th year in 2025, was once labeled that way. At one of the most tradition-rich athletic programs in all of college sports, he's now inseparably woven into the historical fabric of the Crimson Tide , something nobody − not even Saban − could have accomplished by buzzing through the Capstone like a pitstop.
But back in 2007, in the aftermath of his acceptance of an offer from late athletics director Mal Moore to take over the Alabama football program, the label was a fair one.
He'd never stayed anywhere longer than five years. Not at the college level, or in the NFL. Not as an assistant coach or as a head coach. He'd spent two years or fewer at eight different stops in his career, first as a linebackers coach at his alma mater, Kent State (1975-76), then as a Syracuse assistant (1977), a West Virginia assistant (1978-79), an Ohio State assistant (1980-81), a Naval Academy assistant (1982), a Houston Oilers assistant (1988-89), Toledo head coach (1990) and as head coach of the Miami Dolphins (2005-06).
But it was that last stop in Miami, and the circumstances that surrounded it, that really stamped his reputation as a coach who didn't care to stay anywhere for very long.
His only two seasons as an NFL head coach weren't successful, for one thing. The Dolphins were 15-17 on his two-year watch without a playoff appearance. What really spurred Saban hate in South Florida , however, was his Dec. 21, 2006, declaration to Dolphins reporters that he would not take the Alabama job. After he did exactly that two weeks later, he was excoriated by Dolphins media outlets that dispatched reporters to Tuscaloosa for his introductory press conference.
Even legendary Dolphins coach Don Shula, whose son Mike had just been fired from the Alabama job, called him a "blatant liar."
It was one quick exit too many for prominent national media figures who incessantly predicted Saban would surely bail on Alabama at the first good opportunity to leave. The narrative had Saban pegged all sorts of ways: He would be too intolerant of Alabama's meddlesome boosters, be driven away by unrealistic fan expectations or be drawn back to the NFL to prove he could win big as a pro head coach. Texas made a run at him with a contract offer in 2013. The NFL made repeated overtures over the years.
So much for narratives.
Saban was certainly intolerant of meddlers, but they learned not to cross the line with a no-nonsense coach who had the power of unflinching administrative support at his back. Fan expectations might've been unrealistic, but Saban began meeting them as early as his second season in Tuscaloosa. As for the NFL, Saban had a been-there, done-that attitude about a return to the pro ranks.
Indeed, what two years as the Dolphins head coach taught him was that his heart was more into the college game. He enjoyed having a greater influence over the players, both in their football development and in their personal lives. And because he was an ace recruiter with a tireless work ethic, it was easier for Saban to ascend to the top of the college game and stay there. By contrast, the NFL structure was at constant odds with the notion of a dynasty build. Between the NFL draft order rewarding the league's worst teams and the salary cap that gave every franchise the same wherewithal, Saban once told me, the NFL created a habitat for every team to finish 8-8.
And why fight the 8-8 machine when he could build an edge in the college game?
Moore, after all, was more than happy to make it worth his while. Before he'd ever won a game at Alabama, Moore made him the highest-paid college coach in the country with an eight-year, $32 million deal that would escalate quickly as the championships began pouring in. After nine SEC titles, including three in a row from 2014-2016, and six national championships, including back-to-back titles in 2011-2012, Saban was still the highest-paid coach in the college ranks upon his retirement at $11.4 million for his last season in 2023, nearly three times the salary he began with in 2007.
All the reasons Saban cited in saying he had no interest in leaving Alabama, at least to me, made even more sense than all the reasons to leave.
Now, he's 73 and still draws a half-million-dollar salary at Alabama in a consulting role.
He still owns the same Tuscaloosa home he first bought in 2007.
And why not? Tuscaloosa turned out to be home itself.
Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread is also the weekly co-host of Crimson Cover TV on WVUA-23. Reach him at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on X.com @chasegoodbread.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: A year post-retirement, Tuscaloosa remains home for Alabama's Saban
