Legendary Alabama Coach Nick Saban Retiring: Reports

Nick Saban, the head coach of the University of Alabama’s storied football team, is retiring, according to multiple reports on Wednesday.

The legendary coach has been at Alabama for 17 seasons, leading the Crimson Tide to six national championships. He reportedly told the team Wednesday that the recently finished season would be his last.

Saban, 72, is often considered one of the greatest football coaches of all time. In total, he has won seven national titles (including one at Louisiana State University in 2003), led Alabama to winning seasons every year since 2008 and secured a college record of 292-71-1.

The Tide finished its latest season 12-2, losing 27-20 in overtime to Michigan during the Rose Bowl. Michigan went on to win the national championship against the University of Washington earlier this week.

Saban began his coaching career in the 1970s at Kent State University, and bounced between schools as a position coach before working as defensive coordinator at Michigan State University. His first head coaching job came at the University of Toledo in 1989, followed by a stint as defensive coordinator for the NFL’s Cleveland Browns. Then came his long tenure leading teams at Michigan State and LSU, as well as the Miami Dolphins, before his dynasty at Alabama.

He was widely lauded for his recruiting skills and his mentorship of players on and off the field. Four of his players won the Heisman Trophy, and 44 were first-round draft picks in the NFL.

Saban was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 2013 and is a five-time winner of SEC Coach of the Year, among many other honors.

“Coach Saban is perhaps, if not the best single investment the university has made, he is one of the best,” Robert Witt, president