Nick Saban shares why he remained working up to retirement

In the final minutes before he retired, former Alabama coach Nick Saban was still hard at work.

Saban told ESPN’s Chris Low that he finalized his decision to retire last weekend following a vacation, but he returned to work this week and didn’t slow down.

Even on Tuesday and Wednesday — the day he eventually called it a career — Saban was interviewing potential new assistant coaches via zoom, according to Low.

Saban spoke with a potential new receivers coach about an hour before telling his team he was retiring, Low reports. Nick Saban explained to Low why he didn’t slow down after coming to his decision.

“It’s the way I’ve always done things,” Saban said. “You keep working right up until it’s time to walk away. I think when you get away from doing what you’ve always done, you’re never going to be as effective. And that’s just sort of it. I knew it was time.”

It’s that attention to detail, that drive, that made Saban the coach that he was.

He is arguably the greatest coach in college football history after winning seven national titles and 11 SEC championships, including one this past season.

Until the end, Saban continued to work, and he was even back at Alabama on Thursday, doing what he could to help with the transition.

Nick Saban confirms he will maintain his presence at Alabama after retirement

Since 2007, Nick Saban has patrolled the Alabama sidelines, becoming one of the most legendary college coaches to ever step on the field in the process. Now, he’s walking away and preparing to retire from the sport. However, that doesn’t mean that he won’t maintain his presence at Alabama.

Even the day after news of his retirement broke, Saban drove into the office at the same time as he normally does.

“I want to be there for the players, for the coaches, anything I can do to support them during this transition,” Saban told ESPN.

“There are a lot of things to clean up, to help as we move forward. I’m still going to have a presence here at the university in some form and trying to figure out all that and how it works. This is a place that will never be too far away from Miss Terry’s and my hearts.”

During his 17 seasons at Alabama, Nick Saban became a legend. He won nine SEC Championships and six national championships on the back of a 201-29 record during his time with the Crimson Tide. The statue has already been built for him.

Saban told his staff he was retiring shortly before the news broke on Wednesday. In total, the meeting lasted less than 10 minutes and likely changed the course of the program.

Now, while Nick Saban is going to be around Alabama and the Crimson Tide football program, he won’t be the head coach. The school turns its attention to finding a new head coach as quickly as possible with the offseason already underway.