Nick Saban’s reasons for retiring as Alabama’s football coach included disappointment with how players acted in the wake of the Crimson Tide’s Rose Bowl loss, according to a report from ESPN. According to the report, Saban felt his message was no longer getting through.
“I want to be clear that wasn’t the reason, but some of those events certainly contributed,” Saban told ESPN, which he will be working for in retirement as part of the College Gameday program. “I was really disappointed in the way that the players acted after the game. You gotta win with class. You gotta lose with class. We had our opportunities to win the game and we didn’t do it, and then showing your ass and being frustrated and throwing helmets and doing that stuff … that’s not who we are and what we’ve promoted in our program.”
Saban’s decision process involved a trip to Florida with his wife Terry. According to the report, he spoke with former NFL head coach Bill Parcells, along with Gene Stallings, who won a national championship as Alabama’s head coach in 1992.
Another contributing factor was his meetings with players upon returning to Tuscaloosa. Saban, who made more than $11 million in his final year at Alabama, reiterated to ESPN that the changes in attitude and rules involving NIL and the transfer portal weren’t bad, but did alter some dynamics.
“I thought we could have a hell of a team next year, and then maybe 70 or 80 percent of the players you talk to, all they want to know is two things: What assurances do I have that I’m going to play because they’re thinking about transferring, and how much are you going to pay me?” Saban told ESPN.
In the end, Saban felt it was time to go. He said in the report that he had grown tired of going through assistant coaches, and no longer felt he could give potential staffers assurance that he would be the head coach long-term.
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