Colton Corner’s: Saban’s retirement signals new era for college football

It was a moment no one thought would happen – much less come during the 2024 offseason.

Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban announced his retirement on Wednesday signaling the end of a 50 year coaching career.

Not much more can be said of the career of Saban, who will leave college football as quite possibly the greatest college football coach in the history of the sport.

Seven national championships, four Heisman Trophy winners, 12 conference championships, and 292 overall wins are just some of the records that might never be broken or will take a long time to be break.

Perhaps the most outstanding part of Saban’s legacy with be his tenure with Alabama, particularly from 2008-2023.

There the Crimson Tide won no fewer than 10 games through a 15 year period while collecting six national championships and nine conference championships.

It’s a level of dominance not seen in college football and even eclipses the legendary Bobby Bowden's run at Florida State from 1987-2000.

Now for the first time since the 2006 season, college football will see a season without Saban at the helm of a college football program.

Back then the Big 12 was still the remnants of the merger between the Southwest Conference and the Big Eight Conference. The Big East Conference was still involved in football, and Texas State was still slugging it out in the Southland Conference with Sam Houston State and Stephen F. Austin.

The 2024 season will also see the introduction of a 12-team playoff system, mega-conferences extending from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean while marching closer to the super conference.

Needless to say, college football is changing at a rapid pace.

But with Saban leaving the sport, the power vacuum has now opened up to fill in and the chance for one coach to fill it.

In fact, the person that has the potential to be the next Saban is a Saban disciple.

Being Saban’s defensive coordinator from 20082015, Kirby Smart left Alabama to become the head coach of the University of Georgia, his alma mater playing from 1995-1998, where the Bulldogs have become a mirror opposite of the Crimson Tide.

From 2017-2023, with the exception of the 2020 Covid year, Georgia has yet to win fewer than 11 games with two national championships and two conference championship.

With Saban out of the picture, Smart might be the next Saban-In-Waiting.

But no matter what Smart does in the future, there will never be another Nick Saban.

Saban was the gold standard in college football for setting a level of consistency most coaches dream about when establishing a program.

The ability to strive to be not only the best in the nation, but the greatest of all time will never be matched, perhaps ever, in the history of college football.

As for the next coach of the Crimson Tide, good luck following Saban and the insane expectations the Alabama donors and alumni have put upon themselves.

You are going to need all the hope and luck you can muster in order to survive, but in some ways, that is what sports are all about.

cmcwilliams @sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter: @ColtonBMc