JUST IN: Legendary Football Coach Nick Saban Is Set To Retire After Seven Championships

Nick Saban, the legendary head football coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide, announced his retirement in a shocking statement on Wednesday.

Saban, 72, spent 17 seasons at Alabama and worked to build one of the most successful college football programs of all time. He won seven national championships overall, six of them with the Crimson Tide. He most recently led his team to another playoff appearance after a wild, comeback victory over in-state rival Auburn, though his team ultimately came up short against Michigan in the Rose Bowl.

Saban started his head coaching career at Toledo, where he spent one season before moving up to the NFL. He then spent three years as defensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns before again taking on a head coaching role at Michigan State University.

From there, he became the head coach of the LSU Tigers in 2000, with whom he won a BCS championship in 2003. After the title run catapulted Saban to national prominence, he one again moved up to the NFL, where he briefly headed up the Miami Dolphins.

While Saban did not last as a head coach in the NFL, the Alabama Crimson tide set a number of records for players drafted into the league under his leadership. Saban has had 49 players selected in the first round — including 44 at Alabama — the most of any coach in the Common Draft era

He would eventually return to college football, this time with LSU’s bitter SEC rival in Alabama, where he would stay for 16 seasons. Saban led Alabama to a BCS championship over Texas in 2009, his first of six championships with the school. His most recent championship win came in 2020, with others coming in 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2017.

Other accolades include five SEC Coach of the Year wins, 11 SEC championship titles, and a 19-12 overall bowl record.

The legendary coach will end his career with a college football record of 292-71-1, ranking him sixth all time in BCS wins.