How Nick Saban retiring helps Tennessee football from recruiting to rivalry to Finebaum

Josh Heupel is one of six coaches to beat Nick Saban since he won his last national championship.

Tennessee knocked off Alabama 52-49 on that memorable night in Neyland Stadium in 2022.

The others are Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh, Texas’ Steve Sarkisian, LSU’s Brian Kelly, Georgia’s Kirby Smart and Texas A&M’s Jimbo Fisher.

That’s quite a list. And it won’t change now that Saban retired on Wednesday, ending the greatest college football coaching career of all time.

Alabama faces a crazy offseason, but let’s keep this local.

How will Saban’s retirement impact Tennessee? Here are six ways from the recruiting trail to the Paul Finebaum Show.

Vols can snag Alabama players in the portal

The transfer portal is open to Alabama players for 30 days because of the coaching change. The SEC also extended its deadline for interconference transfers, meaning other SEC schools can snag Alabama players that go into the portal.

Alabama will try to keep its roster together. But schools like Tennessee will circle Tuscaloosa, hoping to pick off a talented player who’s rethinking his future with the Crimson Tide sans Saban.

Maybe Tennessee gets a transfer. Maybe it doesn’t. But that’s one area where the Vols could benefit in the short term from Saban’s exit.

Tennessee could close gap in recruiting

Saban has dominated recruiting for several years. Even when Alabama wasn’t winning the national championship on the field, Saban was still routinely signing No. 1 recruiting classes.

Alabama will still recruit at a high level. But Saban’s departure could close the gap between Alabama and other SEC schools, especially when NIL money already sometimes serves as an equalizer.

Recruiting against Alabama won’t be easy. But it won’t be as hard as during Saban’s tenure.

Case in point, five-star quarterback George MacIntyre from Brentwood Academy is choosing between Tennessee and Alabama. Maybe the Vols get him either way, but taking Saban out of that battle instantly makes it more winnable.

There will be similar recruiting battles in the future where Tennessee will be glad that it’s not competing with Saban for a prized prospect.

Alabama will be more beatable without Nick Saban

It may have seemed that Saban’s unbeatable aura had worn off in recent years. It took one of his best coaching efforts to get the 2023 team to the College Football Playoff.

But Alabama’s next coach will still be more beatable than Saban.

Yes, Tennessee beat Alabama in 2022.

But it took a Heisman Trophy candidate quarterback (Hendon Hooker), a record-breaking performance by a Biletnikoff Award winner (Jalin Hyatt), 17 penalties by Alabama (the most ever under Saban) and the best home-field advantage that Tennessee fans could provide.

And the Vols still needed to make a buzzer-beating field goal and for Alabama to miss its own kick to finally beat Saban after 15 straight losses to Alabama. The next coach won’t be that close to perfect.

Josh Heupel can get upper hand in October

Tennessee will play a Saban-less Alabama team on Oct. 19 at Neyland Stadium. It will be a tone-setting game for all parties involved, and especially a massive opportunity for Heupel.

The Vols lost to Saban and Alabama in 2021 and 2023. So at best, Heupel would’ve tried to even the score at 2-2 by beating Saban in October. But now he can be 1-0 against the next Alabama coach by winning the next meeting.

A Tennessee coach hasn’t had the upper hand over an Alabama coach since Phillip Fulmer touted a 3-1 record against Mike Shula in 2006.

Nick Saban retired just as annual Tennessee-Alabama rivalry might end

This also adds a layer to the SEC debate between an eight-game or nine-game conference schedule, which should be decided before the 2025 season.

If the SEC changes to a nine-game conference schedule, Tennessee will continue playing Alabama annually. The Vols also would play Vanderbilt and one more annual opponent, either South Carolina or Kentucky.

But if the SEC stays with an eight-game conference schedule, only Vanderbilt will be on the Vols’ schedule every season. So this 2024 game could be the end of era for the Third Saturday in October rivalry, which heightens Tennessee’s opportunity.

In an eight-game SEC schedule, Alabama likely would play Tennessee, Auburn and LSU. That's a tough trio.

Tennessee will love to hear Alabama fans whining

Call this the Finebaum effect. His SEC Network show is where drama resides in the SEC.

For years, Alabama fans have called into Finebaum's show with minor complaints that other fan bases would be glad to endure. They griped that the Tide didn’t win the national title or finished No. 2 in the recruit rankings.

Alabama fans were spoiled by the success and stability that Saban provided.

During those same years, Tennessee dealt with real turmoil like a coaching carousel, Lane Kiffin's abrupt exit, Butch Jones’ eye-rolling comments, Jeremy Pruitt’s NCAA recruiting scandal and a lot of mediocre football.

Perhaps now the tables could turn as Alabama’s next coach tries to reach the unbelievable standards set by Saban.

If things don’t go well, the drama will incite Alabama fans. And nothing would make Tennessee fans happier.

Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.

Get the latest news and insight on SEC football by subscribing to the SEC Unfiltered newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: How Tennessee-Alabama football changes with Nick Saban retiring