Terrion Arnold on Nick Saban retirement rumors: 'He’s gonna die coaching'

Alabama lost in painful fashion in the College Football Playoff Semifinal on Monday, suffering a 27-20 overtime loss to Michigan at the Rose Bowl. But what would be even more painful is if head coach Nick Saban decided that was his last game at the helm for the Crimson Tide.

Alabama’s postseason loss has come with speculation regarding Saban moving on from being the program’s head coach. But Alabama’s All-American defensive back Terrion Arnold isn’t entertaining the possibility.

Arnold was asked about the rumors surrounding the potential retirement of Saban on the ‘3 Man Front’ show on Monday, and he did not waste a word in his hilarious response to the notion.

“Man, I wouldn’t even try to hype myself up and make myself believe something like that,” Arnold said. “Coach Saban ain’t goin’ nowhere. He’s gonna die coaching. That’s borderline, like he always says he’ll stop coaching when he becomes a liability to it and I don’t think he’ll be a liability to coaching until he’s gone.”

Arnold’s comments may be humorous, but there’s no denying that there’s truth to them, as Saban looked far from a liability fresh off of what many have called his most impressive coaching job to date following a rocky start to the regular season.

The 72-year-old head coach just completed his 17th season with the Crimson Tide, taking the program to new heights with six national championship wins and eight SEC Championships. Monday’s Rose Bowl appearance marked Alabama’s eighth in the 10-year history of the College Football Playoff, leading all programs.

His impact on the Alabama program and college football as a whole has been monumental, so much so that Crimson Tide faithful may be sensitive to the thought of him parting ways with the team. But Arnold felt no hard feelings about being asked the question.

“I know you had to ask, like you’ve got the right to ask man because if it’s me and I can ask somebody like that Imma ask too,” Arnold said.

Saban has made national championship wins the standard in Tuscaloosa since his arrival, a standard that the program did not meet this season and was last fulfilled in 2020. And while that now represents the longest stretch that Saban has gone at Alabama without hoisting a national title, there’s no question that he hasn’t shown any significant signs of slowing down and will most definitely end his head coaching career on his own terms.