Latest news with #Saban
USA Today
a day ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Nick Saban shares humorous response to coaching return rumor
For the first time since the rumor was shared during SEC media days, former Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban has publicly commented on his potential interest in returning to coaching. In a recent television appearance on Fox News' Fox and Friends, Saban was asked in an interview the question as to if he would ever return to the sidelines again. Saban, in response, appeared to shut down speculation on a potential return, while also giving a humorous answer. "I never really ever had a thought about getting back into coaching, until two days ago Mrs. Terry said I had to run the sweeper in the entire downstairs," Saban said. "While running the sweeper, the thought occurred to me," When you were coaching, you had a heck of a lot better job than this. That is only time I considered it." "There is no opportunity that I know of right now, that would enhance me to go back to coaching." Saban also later added. Saban, who announced his retirement back in Jan. 2024, was the head coach at Alabama for 17 seasons from 2007-23, winning six national championships during that span. As the head coach at Alabama, Saban also compiled a 206-29 overall record, recorded 16 10-win seasons, and won nine SEC championships. Since announcing his retirement, Saban has remained around college football, most notably through his role on ESPN's weekly show "College GameDay." As to if Saban would ever return, the answer certainly appears unlikely in the near future. Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion.
USA Today
2 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Broncos CB Pat Surtain talks Nick Saban and more on Johnny Manziel's podcast
Nick Saban is perhaps the greatest college football coach of his era and, next to current University of North Carolina head coach Bill Belichick, one of the greatest football coaches ever. But before he became the master of the sidelines, he was a defensive back coach by trade: coaching defensive backs from 1978-1989 at the likes of Ohio State, Navy & Michigan State. So it is no surprise that he routinely kept his hands and eyes on the defensive backs while at Alabama. Denver Broncos cornerback and reigning Defensive Player of the Year Pat Surtain is a product of Nick Saban's legendary reign at Alabama, and while sitting down with college football legend Johnny Manziel, PS2 spoke on what it was like for Saban to spend time coaching defensive backs at the college level. Surtain told stories about how Saban held his players accountable, from the meeting room to the practice field, what it was like to play against future pros in practice (Devonta Smith), and how they made it easier to play against SEC competition. Listen to that and more in the interview below.
New York Post
2 days ago
- Sport
- New York Post
Why the betting market is underrating Alabama in 2025
Gambling content 21+. The New York Post may receive an affiliate commission if you sign up through our links. Read our editorial standards for more information. You used to be able to set your watch to Alabama Football. Under Nick Saban, the pattern generally followed the same script. The Crimson Tide would be one of the favorites to win the National Championship, they'd often be odds-on to win the SEC, and their Over/Under would be the highest in the country. For most of Saban's tenure, Alabama would meet or surpass the lofty expectations that were set ahead of each campaign. The Crimson Tide won six national championships and nine SEC titles during Saban's 17-year tenure, and they only lost more than one conference game in four of those seasons. The stability under Saban made Alabama one of the safest teams to project in all of college football. The range of outcomes was minimal. Those days appear to be over, and not just because Saban is no longer in charge of the Crimson Tide, but also because the entire landscape of college football has changed. Realignment, the expanded Playoff, and the outlandish growth of NIL have leveled the playing field at the top of college football, making it hard for any program to maintain its spot at the top of the food chain. Alabama, in its second year under head coach Kalen DeBoer, is the seventh-favorite (12/1) to win the National Championship at BetMGM, putting the Tide behind Texas, Ohio State, Georgia, Oregon, Penn State, and Clemson. Alabama was 15/1 to win the national championship ahead of 2024, which means this will likely be the first time in 15 years that the Crimson Tide enters back-to-back seasons with outright odds in the double digits. Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer at practice. AP The betting market was largely proven right last year when it came to Alabama. DeBoer's first season got off to a flawless start, culminating in a 41-34 win over Georgia to get to 4-0, but the following week saw the Crimson Tide lose to Vanderbilt for the first time since 1984. That result set the tone for the rest of an inconsistent season for the Crimson Tide, one that ended with a loss to Michigan in the ReliaQuest Bowl. Given how his first season in Tuscaloosa went, it's no surprise that everybody seems to be lukewarm on 'Bama in DeBoer's second season. The AP preseason poll won't come out for a few weeks, but Alabama will likely be sitting right around fifth behind Texas, Ohio State, Georgia, and perhaps Penn State and/or Oregon. Betting on College Football? That would match the betting market and public sentiment, as the college football world needs to be convinced that DeBoer is the man for this job. While the winds of uncertainty that are swirling around DeBoer may seem like reasons for bettors to abandon ship, they're also presenting a rare opportunity to buy low on 'Bama in a season that sets up quite well for them on paper. Aside from DeBoer, the biggest question mark for Alabama will be under center, where dual-threat QB Ty Simpson is the projected starter. Ryan Williams was a standout performer as a freshman in 2024. AP Simpson does not have much experience running the show at Alabama, but he's walking into a terrific situation. The offensive line should be among the best in the country, he's got an experienced backfield to ride with him, and his wide receiver corps could be historically good, with Ryan Williams leading the way. The defense also grades out splendidly, which should mean that Simpson – or whoever wins the job – won't need to win many games on his own. If you strip out the noise and size up Alabama based on the talent on its roster, you could argue that this is one of the two best teams in the country right now. In fact, Bill Connelly's SP+ rankings have the Tide ranked second behind Ohio State. Connelly's numbers back up the notion that there are just two (albeit important ones) questions for the Tide to answer going into the season. For any other team, this kind of setup would lead to a bullish market. But for Alabama, two question marks are two more than we're used to, and that has caused the market to sour on the Tide. Why Trust New York Post Betting Michael Leboff is a long-suffering Islanders fan, but a long-profiting sports bettor with 10 years of experience in the gambling industry. He loves using game theory to help punters win bracket pools, find long shots, and learn how to beat the market in mainstream and niche sports.
USA Today
3 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Ohio State safety Caleb Downs discusses difference between Ryan Day and Nick Saban
There aren't too many players out there who can say they played for two of the most successful college football coaches over the last couple of decades. However, Ohio State safety Caleb Downs is one of them. Downs chose to commit to Alabama over Ohio State when he came out of high school and spent his first college season becoming a Freshman All-American in Tuscaloosa under Nick Saban. But then, after that year, arguably the greatest coach in college football history retired, and Downs entered the transfer portal, eventually landing in Columbus to play for Ryan Day. At that point, Day had one whale of a winning percentage, but had yet to hoist the College Football Playoff national championship trophy had been so close to winning in previous seasons. But that was taken care of last year after Ohio State went on the greatest postseason run in college football history by beating several top ten teams en route to the first-ever 12-team College Football Playoff. Downs is now back for another year under Day and should have another fantastic season before heading off to the NFL. His first two years have provided Downs with a perspective on the differences between two national championship-winning coaches that he was happy to share with DJ Siddiqi of RG. When asked about Saban, Downs clearly still has respect and admiration for him. He was happy to share his perspective with RG. "He (Saban) was the most consistent person that I've ever met," says Downs of Saban in a one-on-one interview with RG. "He was the same person every day, and that's something that I acknowledged, and I learned from him. Just watching how he operated is a key piece to success. Just making sure every day, you put your best foot forward and you go in with the intention to be the best, and with the mindset 'I'm going to do everything the right way so I can be in the best position.'" One might wonder what made Downs decide to transfer to Ohio State. According to him, it came down to a path he wanted to blaze and the people he wanted to do it with when Saban rode off into the sunset. "I wanted to be a part of a culture and people that are like-minded to me, and they had a lot of great people that I knew from recruitment," Downs told RG. "They had a couple of players that I knew, a lot of coaches that I knew. I knew it was a good situation coming into and then I knew that they had a lot of returning players and a lot of hungry guys that were eager to win. I knew we would have at least a chance to go do something special, which we did." Once Downs got to Ohio State, the defense continued to get better and better with him as the focal point, so much so that the Buckeyes finished as the No. 1 defensive unit in several categories during the 2024 season. Ohio State had a good defensive coordinator with Jim Knowles calling the shots, but it was Day that he gained respect and admiration for, just like Saban, but for different reasons. Asked what makes Day tick by RG, Downs points to how he treats people. "Just caring about your players and knowing them intimately, caring about them off the field is something that I've learned from him," said Downs. "It's not always do this, do that. It's, 'Hey, can I get your guys' opinion on this? How can we grow better together?' That type of vibe, and I feel like that's a special thing as a coach, not always being like, 'I have to be the one that does everything.' To be able to say, 'Hey, my players may have some input, and I'm going to take the input and see what we can do it.'" To Downs, playing for two superpowers in college football wasn't about expectations being different, but the means to the end and how both head coaches did things. Not that one was better than the other, but just how they both went about reaching similar goals. "I would say the two biggest differences for me is just the way that the coaches run the program," said Downs. "It's just a different philosophy. The standard is the same and the expectation is the same — that you win every game and that you go out and dominate every play. But the means of how you do it is different, so I would say that's the biggest thing. The differences is how the head man wants to run the program." Downs will start his third season in college football when he begins his second season under Day on August 30 vs. Texas. It should be another great one for the player considered to be the best defender in college football. Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes and opinion. Follow Phil Harrison on X.
New York Post
3 days ago
- Sport
- New York Post
Nick Saban explains key reason why he hasn't jumped back into coaching
Nick Saban is adamant he won't be coaching football again anytime soon. The legendary Alabama head coach confirmed this on Fox's 'Fox and Friends' show on Friday, after rumors circulated last week of a potential return to the gridiron. Saban finally put his foot down during the program. Advertisement 'There is no opportunity that I know of right now that would enhance me to go back to coaching,' Saban said. 'I enjoy what I'm doing. I did it for 50 years — I loved it. I loved the relationships with the players. I loved the competition. But it's another station of life now.' Last week, former Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy said he heard from a trustworthy source that Saban would return to coaching in the future. Advertisement These comments caused a media firestorm with multiple high-profile names, including Saban's daughter and other SEC coaches, chiming in about the possibility of his return. Nick Saban Coaching in 2023. Getty Images Saban is now working as a host for ESPN's 'College GameDay,' and his work proved to be noteworthy off the field last season, so much so that he won a Sports Emmy award for Outstanding Personality/Emerging On-Air Talent. The seven-time national championship winner also works with the Alabama Football team as an adviser. Advertisement With the two jobs, Saban never thought about a possible return to coaching until rumors went wild. 'It's amazing to me that came up in the media and the media speaks for you, and thinks for you,' Saban said. 'I never really ever had a thought about getting back into coaching until two days ago.' Nick Saban talks to the media at Indianapolis for the championship game in 2022. AP The only time he thought about a return was due to the household chores he was forced to do by his wife, Terry Saban. Advertisement 'Miss. Terry said I had to run the sweeper in the entire downstairs,' Saban said. 'While I was running the sweeper, the thought occurred to me, when you were a coach, you had a heck of a lot better job than this. So that's the only time I considered it.'
