The news was both blindingly obvious and stunningly unexpected. After 17 seasons at Alabama and 51 years in college or pro football, Nick Saban called it a career on Wednesday.
The timing was curious in that he conducted interviews right up until his retirement, but also clear in that the man is 72 years old and has more money than God. We all knew he would retire at some point; none of us knew "some point" was going to be yesterday.
In an interview with ESPN's Rece Davis, Saban answered questions and put rumors to rest in explaining the most pressing question, why now?
“In hiring coaches and recruiting players, my age started to become an issue. People wanted assurances I’d be here, three years, five years, and it became harder to be honest about it.
And to be honest, this last season was grueling. It was a real grind for us to come from where we stared to where we got to. It took a little more out of me than usual. When people mentioned the health issue, it was really just the grind.”
In the absence of certainty, rumors sprung up that there was a pressing illness to himself or Terry that required his immediate attention. Thankfully, Saban said that was not the case. "Just, can you sustain the season from a mental grind point?"
Many people said Saban would not have walked away if not for the twin terrors of the Portal and NIL, topics that dominate every conversation in college football right now. And there's certainly plenty there to argue it that way. Saban has also offered more than enough to conclude he'd still be coaching through the Portal-and-NIL world if he was 62 today, not 72.
Saban said he was more involved with the defense this season than in years past. Defensive coordinator Kevin Steele announced his own retirement this week, forcing him to conduct interviews for his replacement, which likely would've made him even more involved in the defense.
"Put a little more stress on me, made me feel like maybe I wasn't doing as good a job as I needed to in other parts of our team," Saban said. "I just have a high standard for how I do things. If I don't feel like I'm living up to that standard, I'm really disappointed. I wasn't disappointed in the season ... this team was fun to coach and I was very proud."
As to why the decision was made at 4 p.m. local time on Wednesday when Saban was still interviewing prospective coaches at 3:55, Saban said that was because he didn't pull the mental rip cord until 4 p.m.
"I was on the phone, we had a meeting at 4 p.m,, it was 3:55, I was sitting in my chair, looking at the clock, saying you've got five minutes to decide which speech you're going to give," Saban said. "I was actually talking to Miss Terry right up until that time. It was a difficult decision because it impacts and influences the lives of so many people."
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.