Nick Saban crosses $100 million earnings mark at Alabama

Once viewed as a mercenary, Nick Saban has been at Alabama long enough that he seemingly hits a new milestone every time he turns around.

He hit Year No. 15 in 2021 -- his longest stay previously, not counting Kent State: Michigan State from 1983-87 and again from 1995-99. We marked the occasion by listing his 15 most impactful players, assistants, wins and quotes to date. He recently crossed the half-a-hundred threshold in full-time, on-the-field assistant coaches.

The 2022 season hasn't even begun yet, and Alabama has already extended its record streak of 15 straight seasons with at least one week as the AP No. 1 team. 

And, as detailed by AL.com Alabama beat writer Michael Casagrande, Saban has now officially crossed the $100 million mark in paychecks from the school.

As Casagrande notes, that database doesn't include the 2007-08 seasons. To lure him out of Miami, Alabama had to pay him a shocking-at-the-time 8-year, $32 million contract, meaning his earnings to date are closer to $110 million. 

He was extended again in 2009, 2012, and 2014. In 2017, Alabama extended Saban a fourth time to the tune of $65 million over eight years, then extended him again in 2021 for another eight years at an average of $10.6 million per. And it sounds like he's about to get another market adjustment.

Soon, Alabama's total commitment -- past and present -- will surpass $200 million. And that's just in salary for him specifically. It doesn't account for all his assistants, employing all the off-the-field positions that didn't exist in December 2006, nor all the facilities the Tide have built and/or overhauled in the past 16 years. 

And it's been worth every penny, and then some.

-- In 2019-20, the University of Alabama raised $222 million from some 60,000 donors, a school record.

-- In March of this year, the University's endowment crossed $1 billion for the first time. We don't know where it sat in December 2006, but it was just north of $600 million as recently as 2013. 

-- Alabama's 2021 freshman class was a record 7,593, which included a record 281 National Merit Scholars 

-- Total university enrollment was a record 38,320 in 2021. That's a 60 percent increase from the 23,878 students in 2006; the 2006 figure was a 20 percent increase from Alabama's enrollment 15 years prior. So, once Saban showed up, Alabama started growing at a rate three times faster than it had over the previous period.

There are surely a trillion other figures the U of A enrollment and development offices could procure, but you get the point. How about we close with this 2013 quote by Alabama system chancellor Dr. Robert Witt, when Saban's salary was a paltry $5.5 million:

“Nick Saban’s the best financial investment this university has ever made,” he said. “We have made an investment that’s been returned many fold.”