Nick Saban will be 72 by the end of the 2023 college football season, and that's enough for some to speculate just how much the Alabama coach has left in the tank before calling it a career. But the seven-time national championship winner doesn't want prospective Crimson Tide players buying into any retirement rumors. According to Alabama wide receiver commit Ryan Williams, a five-star prospect in the 2025 class, Saban suggested he will coach for as long as his body will let him.
"[Saban told me] he's going to be coaching until he croaks over," Williams told the Cover 3 Podcast's Bud Elliott. "And he's got some time."
While it's believed other programs have used those retirement rumors to pull blue-chip talent away from Alabama, Saban and his staff seem prepared to defend against that based on Williams' account. Williams ranks as the No. 3 overall prospect in the 2025 class, according to 247Sports, and fielded offers from more than two dozen schools during his recruitment.
More than once, Saban has dismissed retirement speculation in an era when the job description of a college coach is arguably more demanding than ever with the emergence of the transfer portal, NIL compensation and other factors. Saban told SEC Network at SEC Media Days in July 2022 that he still loves everything about his job amid changing times.
"I love my job. I love it," Saban said. "I love the relationships with the players, I love the competition, the preparation for the games. I just love it. I wish you all would ask all the other coaches who come up here -- because they tell the recruits I'm going to retire -- ask them how they know I'm going to retire when all I think about is what am I going to do if I retire, because I love what I'm doing now. So how am I going to be happy not coaching?"
Saban will enter the 2023 season as the second-oldest FBS coach, trailing only North Carolina's Mack Brown, who turns 72 in August. Behind Saban is longtime Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz, who will be 68 in August.
