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Alabama head coach history: Nick Saban retiring creates opening in historic football program

Zac Al-Khateeb, USA TODAY NETWORK
·6 min read

One of the longest, most successful chapters in the history of Alabama football came to a close on Wednesday.

Nick Saban has retired from the sport at 72 years old. And though he did not get to ride off into the sunset (his Crimson Tide team lost in the Rose Bowl CFP semifinal to national champion Michigan), neither did he sink into the mediocrity he so desperately and successfully avoided throughout his tenure in Tuscaloosa.

His final season saw the Crimson Tide go 12-2, win the SEC championship, successfully defeat each of Alabama's biggest rivals in Auburn, Tennessee and LSU and keep top-ranked Georgia from winning its third consecutive national championship. With that, Saban's legacy as the most revered coach in the sport is well and truly sealed.

MORE: Relive Nick Saban's epic Alabama football coaching career with our special book!

For some Alabama fans, his tenure is the only one they have known — or, at least, the one they remember most clearly. But the Crimson Tide's football history stretches further back than Saban's first season in 2007, spanning the likes of fellow greats Wallace Wade, Frank Thomas, Paul W. "Bear" Bryant and Gene Stallings.

Here's a look back at Alabama's head coaching history, Saban's place in it and where the Crimson Tide might look to next:

Alabama coaching history

Saban was the 27th coach in Alabama football history, not including interim coach Joe Kines, who led the Crimson Tide in the 2006 Independence Bowl following the firing of Mike Shula.

Saban finishes his career as the second-longest-tenured and second-winningest coach in program history, trailing only Bryant in those categories. The latter still holds the program marks for most seasons coached at Alabama (25) and most wins (232-46-9), whereas Saban coached 17 years, amassing an unofficial 206-29 record.

REQUIRED READING: Alabama football coaching search: 5 candidates to replace Nick Saban

Despite its success, Alabama has also seen its fair share of mediocrity and downright bad seasons. Here's a look at Alabama's coaching history:

  • E. B. Beaumont (1892): 2-2

  • Eli Abbott (1893-95, 1902): 7-13

  • Otto Wagonhurst (1896): 2-1

  • Allen McCants (1897): 1-0

  • W. A. Martin (1899): 3-1

  • Malcolm Griffin (1900): 2-3

  • M. H. Harvey (1901): 2-1-2

  • W. B. Blount (1903-04): 10-7

  • Jack Leavenworth (1905): 6-4

  • J. W. H. Pollard (1906-09): 21-4-5

  • Guy Lowman (1910): 4-4

  • D. V. Graves (1911-14): 21-12-3

  • Thomas Kelly (1915-17): 17-7-1

  • Xen C. Scott (1919-22): 29-9-3

  • Wallace Wade (1923-30): 61-13-3

  • Frank Thomas (1931-46): 115-24-7

  • Harold D. Drew (1947-54): 54-28-7

  • J. B. Whitworth (1955-57): 4-24-2

  • Paul W. Bryant (1958-82): 232-46-9

  • Ray Perkins (1983-86): 32-15-1

  • Bill Curry (1987-89): 26-10

  • Gene Stallings (1990-96): 70-16-1 (62-25 after forfeited wins, tie)

  • Mike DuBose (1997-2000): 24-23

  • Dennis Franchione (2001-02): 17-8

  • Mike Price (2003): 0-0*

  • Mike Shula (2003-06): 26-23 (10-23 after vacated wins)

  • Nick Saban (2007-23): 206-29 (201-29 after vacated wins)

* Price was hired in principle to replace Franchione in December 2002, but had his contract rescinded in May 2003 for alleged inappropriate behavior off the field

REQUIRED READING: What we know about Alabama football coaching search: Was Dan Lanning really in Tuscaloosa?

How many national championships does Alabama have?

Bryant and Saban account for 12 of Alabama's 18 claimed national champions, winning six apiece with the Crimson Tide (Saban has a seventh at LSU in 2003, most in college football history). Alabama's other national title-winning coaches are Wade (three), Thomas (two) and Stallings (one).

Here's a rundown of each of Alabama's national title seasons and records, including who coached them:

  • 1925: 10-0 (Wallace Wade)

  • 1926: 9-0-1 (Wallace Wade)

  • 1930: 8-0 (Wallace Wade)

  • 1934: 10-0 (Frank Thomas)

  • 1941: 9-2 (Frank Thomas)

  • 1961: 11-0 (Bear Bryant)

  • 1964: 10-1 (Bear Bryant)

  • 1965: 9-1-1 (Bear Bryant)

  • 1973: 11-1 (Bear Bryant)

  • 1978: 11-1 (Bear Bryant)

  • 1979: 12-0 (Bear Bryant)

  • 1992: 13-0 (Gene Stallings)

  • 2009: 14-0 (Nick Saban)

  • 2011: 12-1 (Nick Saban)

  • 2012: 13-1 (Nick Saban)

  • 2015: 14-1 (Nick Saban)

  • 2017: 13-1 (Nick Saban)

  • 2020: 13-0 (Nick Saban)

REQUIRED READING: Nick Saban contract: How much money did Alabama football coach walk away from to retire?

When did Nick Saban start coaching at Alabama?

Saban began coaching Alabama in the 2007 college football season, going 7-6 in his first campaign (later adjusted to 2-6 after the Crimson Tide vacated five wins due to impermissible benefits).

At the time he was hired to coach Alabama, Saban had a reputation as a job-hopper: He longest stints were five seasons each at Michigan State (1995-99) and LSU (2000-04). He left the Spartans to coach the Tigers, whom he then left to take over the NFL's Miami Dolphins. He coached two seasons in Miami before heading to Tuscaloosa.

Saban ultimately coached 17 years at Alabama, marking his longest stay with any team since he began coaching in 1973 as a graduate assistant at his alma mater Kent State.

Who coached Alabama before Nick Saban?

Not including Kines' one-game interim stint in 2006, Saban's direct predecessor at Alabama was Shula, who was also the Crimson Tide's starting quarterback from 1984-86. Shula returned to his alma mater in 2003, coaching Alabama football for four years through the 2006 season.

The high point of Shula's career was a 10-2 campaign in 2005 that saw the Crimson Tide rise as high as No. 3 in the Coaches Poll. Alabama lost consecutive games to Auburn and LSU that year, derailing a season that at one point had legitimate SEC championship and national title consideration. Shula's Tide finished the season with a 13-10 win vs. Texas Tech in the Cotton Bowl.

The next season Shula lead Alabama to a 6-6 regular-season record, after which he was fired by then-athletic director Mal Moore. Shula finished his career with a 26-23 record that was later adjusted to 10-23 following vacated wins in the 2005 and 2006 seasons.

Who will coach Alabama after Nick Saban?

The next chapter of Alabama football remains unwritten. The question of who will replace Saban isn't just an Alabama football or even college football story.

More: Alabama football coaching search: 5 candidates to replace Nick Saban

Considering the historic success he achieved in Tuscaloosa, whoever takes over for the Crimson Tide will make national headlines — and coach in the shadow of college football's biggest giant.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama football coach history, from Bear Bryant to Nick Saban