Nick Saban Answers Whether He'll Ever Return to College Football

Nick Saban is one of the most celebrated coaches in the history of college football. He wrapped up his iconic college football head coaching career with a 297-71-1 overall record in his 28 seasons, according to the National Football Foundation College Football Hall of Fame.

His final days, of course, were spent as head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide. He announced his retirement from head coaching in January 2024, after Alabama's 2023 season wrapped up.

So, would Saban ever go back to coaching in college football? He's 74 years old, which is the same age as Bill Belichick, who's still in the game coaching for North Carolina.

Saban appeared on ESPN's Get Up on Tuesday, and host Mike Greenberg took the opportunity to ask Saban if he'd ever seriously consider returning to coaching.

"I think that it was just time for me," Saban said. "And I think it was time to have some quality of life with family, Miss Terry, enjoy some things we've never been able to do."

Saban also pushed back on the idea that changes such as the transfer portal and name, image and likeness deals drove him into retirement.

"Well, that's not why I got out of coaching," Saban said when asked about how the game has changed. "We had three years of this, you know, my last three years. I coached in the NFL, so I was used to managing the salary cap and that type of thing."

He added that "coaching is not a job. It's a way of life," and that was key to why he was ready to leave it.

"So how about let's do something else and have some fun doing something else and not live under this stress level that we've lived under for 50 years," he said.