Saban finalizes nearly $85 million contract

The formality was formalized Monday, and Nick Saban's path to earn nearly $85 million from the University of Alabama by decade's end has been paved.

The University of Alabama's Board of Trustees, and within that the school's compensation committee that serves on the board, approved the reworked deal that runs through February 2029 for Saban.

It's a staggering contract for college football's most dominant coach of the modern era and arguably its most dominant leader in the sport's history.

Saban's seven national championships are the most in the sport's history.

Saban, who has won six national championships atop the Crimson Tide program, in addition to an earlier title he won at Louisiana State University, is scheduled for an eight-figure salary in each of the final six years of the deal.

After being set to earn $9.5 million in the coming year and $9.9 million the following year, the final six years of Saban's deal guarantee the coach salaries of $10.3, $10.7, $11.1, $10.7, $11.1 and $11.5 million.

In sum, the contract is worth a minimum of almost exactly $85 million in guaranteed compensation – $84.8 million, to be precise, if the contract is not reworked.

However, Saban's long-term deals at Alabama never have gone to their full terms since he turned the program into college football's preeminent force by his third year in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

The Tide on Monday also announced that assistant coach Andrew Svoboda, who replaced Jay Graham to run the program's special teams units and coach tight ends, was awarded a two-year deal worth $450,000 per year.