Nick Saban seemed like he could go forever because he nearly did. He won an unprecedented seventh college football national championship at the age of 69, the second-oldest coach in history to win a title. He led his seventh Alabama team into the College Football Playoff at age 72, pushing eventual national champion Michigan into overtime. He kept kicking opponents’ asses until the very end, no letup in sight.
So the news arrived as a shock, if not a complete surprise, when it rippled through the sports world: the best college football coach ever to do it is retiring. There had been rumor and speculation for months that 2023 would be his last season, but still—very few people were ready for it to drop out of the clouds on a random January Wednesday afternoon.
And now there is a gaping hole in college football.
