Nick Saban brought prestige upon the University of Alabama. 

Long before he arrived in Tuscaloosa, Saban was building a coaching dynasty. It wouldn’t be realized for some time after he started his coaching career, though it wouldn’t have happened any other way. 

Saban started his head coaching career at Toledo on Dec. 22, 1989. He went 9-2 in his lone season before heading back to the NFL where he’d already spent two years with the Houston Oilers from 1988-89. 

And 35 years later, on Jan. 10, his retirement shook the college football world. 

“I don’t think there’s any good time especially when you’re a coach because once you’re a coach you think you’re going to be a coach forever,” Saban told Rece Davis of ESPN. “But I actually thought that in hiring coaches, recruiting players, that my age started to become a little bit of an issue. People wanted assurances that I would be here for three years, five years, whatever, and that got harder and harder for me to be honest about.” 

After a season in which Alabama won the Southeastern Conference Championship following a 4^th and 31 conversion at Auburn and a dethroning of Georgia’s 29-game winning streak, Saban said last season “was grueling.” 

“It was a real grind for us to come from where we started to where we got to,” Saban said. “Took a little, little more out of me than usual, and when people mention the health issue, it was really just the grind of can you do this the way you want to do it? Can you do it the way you’ve always done it, and be able to sustain it and do it for the entire season? And if I couldn’t make a commitment to do that in the future, the way I think I have to do it, I thought maybe this was the right time based on those two sets of circumstances. That, like I said, there’s never a good time. But I thought maybe this was the right time.” 

Saban gave no indication prior to the 2023 season that it might be his last as head coach. But after his eighth appearance in the College Football Playoff, Saban decided it was the right time to retire. 

He said his role “was a little different this year” in terms of coaching, noting that he spent more time focusing on the defense. 

“Had to be more involved with the defense, that took a little more time, put a little more stress on me, made me feel like, maybe I wasn’t doing as good a job as I needed to in other parts of our team,” Saban said. “I just have a high standard for how I do things. And if I can’t, if I don’t feel like I’m living up to that standard, I’m really disappointed.”

Over the past several years in particular, college football has seen notable drastic change involving aspects such as the transfer portal and Name, Image and Likeness. 

None of those aspects had an effect on Saban’s decision to retire, he said. 

“You know, I’ve always been one that no matter what’s happened through the years, whether they went no huddle and you had to adapt to it, they threw RPOs and you had to adapt to it, we had a changing environment in college football,” Saban said. “My thing was always don’t complain about it, try to figure out what the best solution is so that you can compete well in whatever the environment is. And that’s always the approach that I’ve taken and the situation and circumstances that we’re in. But I will be dedicated to college football and the future of college football and trying to make that sport — as well as other sports and collegiate athletics and whether they’re revenue producing or not because I think they all create opportunities for lots of people — I’m going to be an advocate for trying to make the game as good as it can be.” 

It took conversations with his wife, Miss Terry, and numerous student-athletes before Saban settled on his decision to retire. 

Saban said conversations with players such as Malachi Moore and Caleb Downs “were probably the most difficult” because of the special relationships he’s forged over time. 

Saban said the areas he’d like to see growth is around the participation aspect of college athletics and to “improve the quality of life of the participants.” In being an advocate for student-athletes, Saban can assume that role immediately. 

Saban isn’t the only legendary coach to leave his post. In the NFL, Bill Belichick and Pete Carroll left their head coaching positions with the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks, respectively, after more than a decade at the helm. 

Saban said he’s noticed the change sweeping across all levels of football, and to him, he sees how special it is. 

“I think it’s a tribute because I think it’s much more difficult to sustain success than it is to build a program, to take a 3-8 team and in three or four years make it a successful program,” Saban said. “I think to do it for a long time because people don’t react well to success. They react much better to failure. They’re more willing to change their ways, they’re more willing to develop the habits they need to develop to be successful. But when you’ve climbed the mountain successfully several times you become the mountain so therefore everybody’s shooting at you, everybody wants to beat you, everybody circles that game on their schedule as this is the game that we want to make sure we’re ready for and win.” 

So while Saban will enter retirement and former Washington head coach Kalen DeBoer will succeed him, it’s not like Saban won’t still be around.

He’ll have an office at Alabama and a chance to be around the program almost as much as he has been. Saban wants to still be part of college football, and the Crimson Tide are affording him that opportunity.

And in the many opportunities Saban has created and taken, he still wants to inspire change and make an impact on someone else.

“We want to continue to do those types of things in the community, build houses for people,” Saban said. “It’s just part of having compassion for other people and trying to be helpful, and one of the things that make me sort of most proud is the number of players, whether it was Tua (Tagovailoa), Mac Jones, Bryce (Young), whoever it was, that I saw them working on houses for Miss Terry on a Saturday to build a house for some needy family, and now they all have foundations themselves and they’re dedicated to helping other people. So that’s one of my proudest moments as a coach that because those guys were involved in helping people here and doing things in the community that had an impact to help someone else have a better quality of life, they chose to do that in their future.” 

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According to Pete Thamel of ESPN, Downs made the decision to become a Buckeye on Friday. He led Alabama last season with 107 tackles as a true freshman.

READ: Ohio State hires Bill O’Brien as next offensive coordinator

Downs came into college football as a five-star recruit as part of the class of 2023.

He lived up to the hype and garnered the starting sot at strong safety, becoming the first Crimson Tide true freshman to lead the team in tackles since at least 1970.

Downs was named Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year and received Freshman All-America honors from the Football Writers Association of America.

READ: South Alabama names Major Applewhite next head coach

Downs also took home second team All-America recognition from The Associated Press and The Sporting News.

Downs also piled in 3.5 tackles for loss loss, three pass break-ups, two interceptions, a fumble recovery and forced fumble.

The post Reports: Caleb Downs to transfer to Ohio State appeared first on Saturday Glory.

According to Pete Thamel of ESPN, Downs entered the portal on Wednesday, less than one week after Nick Saban announced his retirement from coaching.

READ: Arizona hires San Jose State’s Brent Brennan as next head coach

Downs joins fellow Crimson Tide players Isaiah Bond and Kadyn Proctor as portal entrants. Bond found a new home at Texas on Sunday.

Downs was named the Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year after he became the first true freshman to lead Alabama with 107 tackles since at least 1970.

READ: Ohio State names Texas A&M’s Ross Bjork next athletics director

Downs received second team All-American nods from The Associated Press and The Sporting News.

The Hoschton, Georgia, native also added 3.5 tackles for loss, three pass break-ups, two interceptions, a fumble recovery and forced fumble.

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LSU quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels earned First Team All-America honors after accounting for 50 touchdowns, 3,812 passing yards and 1,134 rushing yards. 

A panel of 18 AP Top-25 voters rounded out the three All-America teams, according to the AP. 

There were seven players in either their fifth or sixth season of college football to be selected to the AP All-America First Team. Eleven more made the second and third teams. 

Alabama had the most AP First Team All-Americans, and they each came on the defensive side of the ball. 

The Southeastern Conference also led with nine First Team selections, and the Big Ten followed with six. The Pac-12 had four First Team All-Americans, the Big 12 had three, there were two independents and the remaining conferences had one selection or less. 

Here are the full All-America teams. 

First Team 

QB Jayden Daniels, LSU 

RB Ollie Gordon II, Oklahoma State 

RB Cody Schrader, Missouri 

OT Joe Alt, Notre Dame 

OT Olu Fashanu, Penn State 

OG Cooper Beebe, Kansas State 

OG Zak Zinter, Michigan 

OC Jackson Powers-Johnson, Oregon 

TE Brock Bowers, Georgia 

WR Malik Nabers, LSU 

WR Marvin Harrison Jr., Ohio State 

WR Rome Odunze, Washington 

AP Travis Hunter, Colorado 

K Graham Nicholson, Miami (OH) 

EDGE Laiatu Latu, UCLA 

EDGE Jalen Green, James Madison 

DL T’Vondre Sweat, Texas 

DL Jer’Zahn Newton, Illinois 

LB Payton Wilson, NC State 

LB Edgerrin Cooper, Texas A&M 

LB Dallas Turner, Alabama 

CB Cooper DeJean, Iowa 

CB Kool-Aid McKinstry, Alabama 

SAF Malaki Starks, Georgia 

SAF Xavier Watts, Notre Dame 

DB Terrion Arnold, Alabama 

P Tory Taylor, Iowa 

Second Team 

QB Michael Penix Jr., Washington 

RB Audric Estime, Notre Dame 

RB Omarion Hampton, North Carolina 

OT Taliese Fuaga, Oregon State 

OT JC Latham, Alabama 

OG Tate Ratledge, Georgia 

OG Clay Webb, Jacksonville State 

OC Sedrick Van Pran, Georgia 

TE Dallin Holker, Colorado State 

WR Troy Franklin, Oregon 

WR Malik Washington, Virginia 

WR Luther Burden III, Missouri 

AP Ashton Jeanty, Boise State 

K Jose Pizano, UNLV 

EDGE Jonah Elliss, Utah 

EDGE Jared Verse, Florida State 

DL Byron Murphy II, Texas 

DL Howard Cross III, Notre Dame 

LB Jeremiah Trotter Jr., Clemson 

LB Jason Henderson, Old Dominion 

LB Jay Higgins, Iowa 

CB Quinyon Mitchell, Toledo

CB Beanie Bishop Jr., West Virginia 

SAF Tyler Nubin, Minnesota 

SAF Caleb Downs, Alabama 

DB Kris Abrams-Draine, Missouri 

P Matthew Hayball, Vanderbilt 

Third Team 

QB Bo Nix, Oregon 

RB Blake Corum, Michigan 

RB Kimani Vidal, Troy 

OT Javon Foster, Missouri 

OT Troy Fautanu, Washington 

OG Christian Haynes, UConn 

OG Luke Kandra, Cincinnati 

OC Zach Frazier, West Virginia 

TE Ben Sinnott, Kansas State 

WR Ricky White, UNLV 

WR Brian Thomas Jr., LSU 

WR Tetairoa McMillan, Arizona 

AP Xavier Worthy, Texas 

K Will Reichard, Alabama 

EDGE Chop Robinson, Penn State 

EDGE Bralen Trice, Washington 

DL Kris Jenkins, Michigan 

DL Braden Fiske, Florida State 

LB Nathaniel Watson, Mississippi State 

LB Edefuan Ulofoshio, Washington 

LB Danny Strutsman, Oklahoma 

CB Ricardo Hallman, Wisconsin 

CB T.J. Tampa, Iowa State 

SAF Trey Taylor, Air Force 

SAF Dillon Thieneman, Purdue 

DB Sebastian Casto, Iowa 

P James Ferguson-Reynolds, Boise State 

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