The Top 5 Nick Saban Moments at Alabama
For those who have enjoyed NCAA football over the last couple of decades, Alabama football coach Nick Saban is a very familiar name. His time spent at the top of the sport has made him an immovable figure on our television screens ever since he became the Alabama Head Coach in 2007. Since that first season, fans have witnessed one of the greatest coaching accomplishments of all time, which sadly came to an end as he announced his retirement following the conclusion of the 2023 college football season.
After adopting a team that had only one winning season from their last four, Nick Saban turned Alabama Crimson Tide football into a dominant force that lived at the top of the rankings for nearly two decades. Having already won a national title with LSU in 2003, Saban went on to win six more with Alabama. His 189 wins are second in school history to only Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant, and they brought plenty more awards and incredible moments with them.
It is an almost impossible challenge to condense these down into a top 5. Nick Saban was an inspirational speaker, a loved figure in the community and, of course, an incredible coach. Here are five of his greatest moments.
5. Supporting the local community after the 2011 Tornado
The first ‘moment’ on our list is the perfect example of the character of Nick Saban. In 2011, Tornadoes ripped through central Alabama, killing 53 residents of Tuscaloosa and leaving much of the city in tatters. The incident was a pivotal moment in Nick Saban’s time in the area, as he was deeply affected by the impact the damage had on the local community.
In an interview with ESPN, Saban said it was shocking “to see so many people who lost everything — they lost their house, they lost everything”. It made Saban view the community and his role within it in a different light. He wanted to help, and before long, his influence was felt all around the city.
Nick Saban and his wife Terry, through their charity Nick’s Kids Foundation, built a new home for each of the National Titles won by Alabama. That number was 13 at the time, but the couple have continued to build a new home for every single title win since.
He also asked his team to forget about training and instead focus on helping the community. Players provided help to locals, clearing debris and sharing supplies, whilst some raised money. This action shows how important a local team can be to a city, and it shows what a fantastic person Nick Saban is.
To make matters better, the team then stormed to their second National Title under Saban, giving the state of Alabama something to celebrate. It also meant the addition of another Habitat Home for the community. The combination of titles and homes means he will go down as one of the most memorable figures in Alabama football history.
4. Saban’s First National Title and Alabama’s First Ever Heisman Trophy Winner
After a very strong season in 2008, it was 2009 that really kickstarted the Nick Saban era of dominance. The team went 12-0 in the regular season, before facing off against the Florida Gators in the SEC Championship game. The Gators had broken the hearts of Alabama in the same fixture just one year earlier and were on the hunt for a third national title in four years.
The Crimson Tide inflicted revenge on their SEC rivals, before going on to defeat the Texas Longhorns 37-21 in the BCS National Championship Game. It was an incredible season for Alabama, who finished with a perfect 14-0 record, their first National Title since 1993 and their first-ever Heisman Trophy winner, Mark Ingram.
Ingram was a key player for Nick Saban, and his 1,658 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns during the 2009 season made him the focal point of the offense. In the SEC Championship game, Ingram rushed for 113 yards and 3 touchdowns, also adding 76 receiving yards. He then rushed for 116 yards and 2 touchdowns in the Championship game.
2009 was a special year for Alabama. They won their first title since 1993 and earned their first-ever Heisman Trophy winner. It was Nick Saban’s first of many, but it was this season that got him his bronze statue outside the stadium. During the celebration, Saban stated “I want everybody here to know, this is not the end. This is the beginning.” How right he was.
3. Onside kick in the 2016 National Championship game
There are countless examples of Nick Saban being a tactical genius to win big games for Alabama. We have highlighted two on this list, and the first is the gutsy onside-kick call against Clemson in the National Championship to close out the 2015 season.
Having learned from a back-and-forth loss to Ole Miss earlier in the season, Saban used the onside kick to trigger a stolen possession and swing the game in his side’s favor. Instead of simply allowing the Tigers to keep scoring on Alabama, Saban sent out Adam Griffith to try an onside kick with the scores tied at 24-24 in the fourth quarter. Marlon Humphrey collected the perfectly judged ball and the kick proved to be the difference in a 45-40 victory that brought Saban his fourth National Championship at Alabama.
With a title on the line and just 11 minutes left in the game, an onside kick was a risky play. But it was exactly the right call to catch the Tigers by surprise and swing the momentum in Alabama’s favor. Not willing to simply sit back and let the other team go blow for blow as he did with Ole Miss earlier in the season, Saban saw his opportunity to steal a possession, and he took it. Nobody in the world was thinking about an onside kick there. Nobody, other than Nick Saban. And it won them a title.
2. Bryce Young and Will Anderson press conference
There is no doubt that Nick Saban will go down as one of the greatest coaches of all time. His reputation is of someone who is a relentless winner, who is tough on his players and demands the best from them. Gushing praise and admiration is not something that we see from coaches all that often, which is why this next moment is particularly poignant.
After losing to Georgia in the National Championship following the 2021 season, the mood was low in the Alabama camp and amongst Crimson Tide fans. The usual post-game festivities were underway for the Bulldogs, whilst a solemn Bryce Young and Will Anderson had to face the press alongside their head coach.
Having asked all they wanted of the players, the conference moderator dismissed them. As Young and Anderson got up to leave, Saban halted them and stated that he had something to say. He went on to explain that the two players sat by his side are not defined by one game, and that their contributions to the team could not be understated. He went out of his way to praise their efforts on and off the field, before thanking them and saying how proud he was of them.
This press conference was a touch of class that proved, yet again, that Saban always knew the right thing to say at the right moment. It was a rare sharing of emotion and one that will have no doubt stuck with the two players and fans for a long time afterwards.
1. Benching Jalen Hurts for Tua Tagovailoa in the National Championship
This iconic moment lands at the top for me. We have already spoken about the gutsy call to opt for the onside kick in the 2016 National Championship game, and it was another bold call that got the Crimson Tide their next National Championship just a few years later.
Jalen Hurts had led the team to the Championship game with an impressive 12-1 record. He was a dual-threat star who had thrown for 2,081 yards and 17 touchdowns, with just one interception, also rushing for 855 yards and 8 more scores. His numbers would have been higher but he was frequently rested as Alabama enjoyed so many big leads late in games.
Having led the team to the showcase game, what could have been Hurts’ dream turned into a nightmare. He completed just 3 of his 8 pass attempts and rushed for 47 yards on 6 carries, and was bullied by the Bulldogs defense in the big game.
The team was losing 13-0 at halftime when Nick Saban made the very brave call to bench his starting quarterback in favor of freshman Tua Tagovailoa. Considering Tua had very little experience under his belt, throwing him out there in the biggest game of them all was a huge call, but it paid off.
Tagovailoa provided a spark to the offense. He dragged them back into the game and forced it to go to overtime. During Overtime, Tua lobbed a beautiful deep pass to DeVonta Smith to secure the game-winning touchdown.
The victory would be Nick Saban’s last National Championship for Alabama, and it tied him with Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant for most National Titles in school history with 6. When you add in the victory that Nick Saban achieved at LSU, his tally of 7 national titles makes him the most successful head coach in College Football history.
