Nick Saban built his legendary coaching career off recruiting metro Atlanta’s best football players to Alabama over the years.
Several former Alabama players expressed shock to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution after Saban’s bombshell decision to abruptly retire Wednesday.
Dillon Lee, a former standout for Buford High School who played linebacker for Alabama from 2012-15, said he was pacing around his house after hearing the news.
“I was like ‘It’s got to be fake,’” Lee said. “People have been asking me for the last couple of months if (Saban was going to retire), and I figured it was going to be just like the last couple of years – that there’s no way he’s going to be done coaching. I went to the SEC Championship game, and they won. I was like ‘there’s no way he’s going to leave after being this close to the top again.’
“I still can’t believe it’s real. It’s just crazy.”
Why did Saban retire? Lee speculates that a large part of it had to do with the recent string of drastic changes in college football, including the NCAA transfer portal and NIL deals.
“The instability of college football is putting a lot of pressure on everybody,” Lee said. “College football has just changed a lot. It has become really tough keeping things together at a high level. But (Saban) was dealing with the changes as well as anybody in the country. So maybe that’s not it. I guess I just talked myself out of that.
“I thought he would coach until he was literally physically incapable. You think about Bear Bryant, when he retired he didn’t (live) much longer. There was Joe Paterno at Penn State. These guys are Hall of Fame, once-in-lifetime coaches. Football is such a big part of coach Saban’s life that I just thought he would coach forever. I never thought he would consider retirement.”
Former Mays offensive lineman Dallas Warmack followed his older brother, former All-American linebacker Chance Warmack, to Alabama. The siblings got on the phone immediately after Saban’s announcement.
“We were both wondering what his next move will be,” said Warmack, who now works in Oregon’s recruiting and player personnel office. “I don’t think he’s done with football, me personally. I think he may want to try (the NFL) again. I just can’t see him being done with football completely. I think he’s done everything you can do in college, and I think the next step for him would be the NFL. He’ll pull a Pete Carroll.”
Brian Vogler, who starred at tight end on two Alabama national championship teams, felt like Saban’s reign at Alabama was nearing an end, based on conversations between the two over the past couple of years.
“I’ve been able to keep in contact with coach Saban, and it was beating him up with not being able to spend more time with his family and his grandkids,” said Vogler, who is a community football coach at Marist. “Saban had told me one time when I finished coaching on Kirby Smart’s staff at Georgia (in football operations in 2017) that he was upset that he didn’t get to spend as much time with his kids as he would’ve liked when they were growing up.
“It stinks for the University of Alabama because they’re losing a legend and a force in college football. But if it’s the best thing for him and his family, I’ll be supportive.”
Geno Smith, a former blue-chip defensive back out of St. Pius in 2012 who played on two Alabama national championship teams, expressed mixed emotions about the sudden turn of events.
“I’m definitely surprised,” Smith said. “But then again, I’m not because he’s 72 years old. He has been doing it for a while. He’s going to get into a great second career. He’ll be on TV a lot as an analyst, and he’s going to sell a lot of cars out of his dealerships.”
Brandon Greene was one of the better offensive linemen that Saban ever signed out of Atlanta. Greene, who played at Cedar Grove, said he was still in disbelief about the Saban news, as were other former Alabama players he communicated with via text messages.
“Yeah, it’s a big blow to the Alabama family. We thought he was going to go for at least another three or four years. Honestly, we thought we had another five years with him. But you never know. We were just being greedy. But I’m happy for him, at the same time. I can speak for everyone when I say this – I know everybody is happy that he’s going to get a chance to relax and enjoy his family. So I’m happy for him. Congrats, Coach.”
