Greg McElroy gives his take on what made Nick Saban successful

Greg McElroy knows Nick Saban better than most, and has become a voice of reason since the sudden retirement of the Alabama legend earlier this week.

While he’s thrown some interesting names out there regarding who can replace Saban, McElroy joined SportsCenter to speak on what made Saban successful in general. When you really boil it down, it’s easy to see why Saban was able to dominate college football for the last two decades.

“He adapted with the times, whether it be their offensive identity, whether it be a group that wants to tempo and score points, when they want to take the air out of the football, play more aggressive ball control. I mean, he really changed with the times,” McElroy said. “He also changed his personality as well. And to be honest with you, today is kind of a sad day. As someone that played for him, I’m going to be celebratory. Hey, as a Bama guy, like I could not be more grateful for the time I spent with Nick Saban. To be with him for four years, there is not a single adult male in my life that has had more of an influence over me, outside of my father, than Nick Saban. He had a tremendous impact on me on teaching me how to do things the right way, teaching me how to focus on the task at hand, focusing on the little things and not worrying so much about the collective but knowing the collective would take care of itself if you focus on the process, you get the ultimate result. So it’s a bittersweet day.

“I’m grateful for his contributions to college football, but man, we lost a legend in the sport at one of the programs that has been so remarkably consistent for the last 17 years when he arrived.”

Alas, McElroy’s reasoning makes a ton of sense. Nobody was more adaptable than Saban, and his ability to win during a myriad of ears of college football is more impressive than anything.

2024 will certainly be a new experience for many college football fans. Saban’s been around the game for what seems like forever, beginning his storied coaching career in 1973 when he was a graduate assistant at his alma mater, Kent State.

From there, he had assistant coaching stints at Syracuse, West Virginia, Ohio State, Navy and Michigan State before he got his first head coaching opportunity at Toledo in 1990.

After just one season, though, Saban headed to the NFL with the Cleveland Browns under the legendary Bill Belichick. He worked as Belichick’s defensive coordinator from 1991-94 before becoming a head coach once again at Michigan State from 1995-99, amassing a 34-24-1 record before he took over at LSU in 2000 — where he won a national title three years later.

All told, Saban had a 292-72-1 record as a college football head coach, including a 201-29 mark in Tuscaloosa. He also had a stint with the Miami Dolphins from 2005-06 where he went 15-17 before taking over at Alabama.

The thing Nick Saban would want to be remembered for is the impact he made on his players, like Greg McElroy. The former Alabama quarterback will certainly agree it was overwhelmingly positive, as his former coach moves forward with his life.