Saban Leaving Alabama
- Thread starter steveluck7
- Start date
I'm totally just a casual observer, but was my first thought too. Or Lane Kiffin <ducks>
pulling this from the Coaching Carousel thread must have been typing when the other posts got moved.
I really thought Saban would coach through the 2026 season to coach a game in West Virginia (30 minutes from where he grew up).
Kirby Smart, Steve Sarkisian, Dan Lanning, Brian Daboll, and Mario Cristobal would also be on this list as well. All former Saban assistants and wildly successful afterwards.
Dabo misplayed the NIL stuff badly, no? Seems like a major mark against him. I'm surprised this didn't come with a succession plan announcement.
Things got tougher for Saban with the NIL. Couldn't be the only team who bought players, as the playing field was leveled. That probably factors into this.
What a run though.
What a run though.
Kirby Smart has built a machine in Georgia and his biggest competition is gone. Go poach a bunch of Bama players with the transfer portal and dominate.
These all strike me as long shots save Lanning. Why would Kirby leave GA? Same with Sark at TX. Mario Cristobal has been bad at Miami, and Daboll running his really good DC out of town in NY is not a great look.
BB and Saban have the same number of titles.
Curious.
Make Saban GM of the Pats and BB stays. (joke)
Curious.
Make Saban GM of the Pats and BB stays. (joke)
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As someone that pulls for Auburn, they should definitely go with James Franklin.
Saban clearly doesn’t want to face Texas in conference play.
Lanning makes complete sense. The suggestion that they’d hire James Franklin is hilarious. Might as well suggest Deion or Jimbo.
Lanning makes complete sense. The suggestion that they’d hire James Franklin is hilarious. Might as well suggest Deion or Jimbo.
I believe things are a lot further along behind the scenes than they seem. He literally just pulled in the #1 recruiting class in the nation though, he really hasn't lost a step aside from not happening to have a 1st round QB this year.
Alabama was much, much sloppier this year. Lots of mental mistakes and dumb decisions. Not on Saban but he probably sees the writing on the wall the gravy train has ended.
....and from the comments on this board; Penn State alumni would be thrilled to pony up the buyout money.
I thought the Alabama crowd wasn't too enamored of O'Brien.
Sure it’s on Saban. Buck stops here, fish tots from the head, all that. I’m far from the most devoted college fan but I saw Bama teams make lots of dumb mistakes that were uncharacteristic of his teams.
I don’t think his head is in it. Which is fine, he has nothing to prove, he’s done it all.
edit: Rots
Fair but he’s lost so many assistants and the new ones suck. That plus an elephant and a gorilla coming into the league and NIL ..
Maybe BB retired and Saban and he run away together, Grace and Frankie style.
I think the era of iron fisted Coach control over 19 yo boys may well be over due to the shift in power to the athletes with NIL and the portal.
He may be walking before they make him run.
I mean, he's 72. The list guys who were HCs of football teams, college or NFL, at that age or older is a short one. Hell, BB is the same age and at least half of New England says he's lost his fastball.
If you think about what goes into that job it's amazing that anyone can do it successfully at any age.
Saw rumors his wife received not great health news. And there’s this.
@_NickKelly
Nick Saban was working until the very end, I'm told. He was interviewing candidates for vacancies as late as this morning. Then later in the day, he told his players he's retiring
@_NickKelly
Nick Saban was working until the very end, I'm told. He was interviewing candidates for vacancies as late as this morning. Then later in the day, he told his players he's retiring
Players were told the school will name a coach within 72 hours. I‘d guess Lanning but not sure why he’d commit career suicide at a young age.
View: https://twitter.com/jtalty/status/1745269690442862686?s=61&t=u98k6PBLbHMnYtCcWaeK4g
@jtalty
The Alabama team was told Wednesday that the school hoped to have Saban's replacement in place in the next 72 hours, sources told @mzenitz @mikerodak and I for @247Sports :
View: https://twitter.com/jtalty/status/1745269690442862686?s=61&t=u98k6PBLbHMnYtCcWaeK4g
@jtalty
The Alabama team was told Wednesday that the school hoped to have Saban's replacement in place in the next 72 hours, sources told @mzenitz @mikerodak and I for @247Sports :
Man, I think Lanning has a pretty great setup now. I'd be really surprised if he wanted to follow Saban instead.
