Never retire, Nick Saban. Why Alabama football needs him more than ever | Toppmeyer
Who else could do this? Who else would you want to see doing this — grinning like an ol’ GOAT with a cigar stuffed into his mouth after vanquishing an old rival?
Nick Saban appears to be having a helluva of a time this Alabama football season, and I hope no Crimson Tide fan takes this for granted.
What — or rather, who — would be the alternative, if Saban retired?
Dabo Swinney? No thanks. Anyone but Clemson’s self-righteous coach, who no longer can beat Duke. James Franklin? Only if Alabama never wants to win another big game. Dan Lanning? Um, no. Alabama fans might beat Lanning silly with a pompom the first time he went for fourth down from his own 34-yard line. Coach Prime? Surely you jest. He might be the one coach more full of himself than Swinney.
For years, we've wondered who would be the right choice to replace Saban, when he decides his fastball just doesn’t have the same old zip or the day arrives when he wants more vacations to Italy in place of recruiting visits. Those discussions make for interesting water-cooler talk and talk-show fodder, but usually they felt rooted in the hypothetical. Saban ruled on, one national championship at a time.
And now?
Saban will turn 72 on Halloween, pushing college football’s great debate — who replaces the irreplaceable? — slightly closer to reality.
I don’t pretend to know when Saban will retire, and I suspect the circle of people who have informed insight is as tight as a pair of pants after Thanksgiving dinner.
Alabama fans ought to hope Saban's retirement is coming no time soon, though, because the list of qualified heirs never has been shorter.
Replacing Saban wouldn’t be like a fantasy draft where you hold the No. 1 pick, either. Not only would Alabama need to identify a qualified candidate, that coach would have to want the job. Kirby Smart isn’t walking through that door. I think Steve Sarkisian would succeed at Alabama, but why leave all of Texas' riches, where he doesn’t face the daunting pressure of replacing inimitable greatness?
The late Ray Perkins could have narrated that story.
Lane Kiffin once told me that trying to follow Saban “would be the dumbest follow ever.”
“What could you possibly do right if you don’t win the national championship every year?” Kiffin said to me in 2022, while responding to the hypothetical of replacing Saban.
Kiffin is just brash enough to do it, but his hijinks that play well in Mississippi would drive folks in Tuscaloosa bonkers.
Meanwhile, here in real time, Saban has positioned one of his most unpolished teams into the SEC West’s pole position. Don't confuse No. 8 Alabama (7-1, 5-0 SEC) with some plucky welterweight getting by on guts and coaching genius. Watch Dallas Turner and Chris Braswell for a few plays, and you’ll be reminded of Alabama’s talent.
Still, this team wouldn’t rank in the top 10 of Saban’s best squads, but the Crimson Tide made mincemeat of the Vols on Saturday throughout the second half of a 34-20 victory.
And Saban loved every second of the celebration. He gnawed a cigar that CBS sideline analyst Jenny Dell handed him. He waved to fans in appreciation, then doubled back and ran to give the student section special acknowledgment.
Alabama hasn’t assembled a complete performance, but it has shown enough grit to enter November with a puncher’s chance at College Football Playoff qualification. Is that a likely? No, but Alabama is bound for a better destination than Swinney’s Clemson, at least.
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You probably heard preseason murmurs suggesting Saban had grown tired of this. His offseason rhetoric fueled that narrative. He grumbled about the imbalanced effects of NIL. He bemoaned Alabama’s possible future SEC schedule. He indulged a ridiculous idea that because Alabama would have been favored over TCU by some hypothetical betting spread, the Tide got snubbed from the CFP.
The offseason brought out Saban’s sanctimonious side, and frankly, I found him insufferable.
Then, the games started, and he transformed into something much more — dare I say? — lovable. It’s like the season’s arrival lifted a weight off his shoulders. He’s smiling in news conferences and interspersing jokes with philosophical musings. He’s thanking fans. He’s taking time to smell the cigars. He’s helping a resilient team improve.
“Fun day,” Saban said after Saturday’s victory.
Maybe this scene signals an aging coach finding joy in his final tour. I’m unconvinced. I’m wondering if the fun is just beginning, while Saban prepares his coaching renaissance, at a moment when Alabama needs him as much as ever.
Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network's SEC Columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer.
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Nick Saban, never retire: Why Alabama football needs him more than ever
