Greg McElroy praises Alabama's run of greatness, Nick Saban

Greg McElroy was there for the start of the Nick Saban era at Alabama. McElroy arrived in Tuscaloosa for his freshman season in 2007, the same year that Saban took over as the Crimson Tide coach.

The quarterback became the starter by his third season, helping deliver a 37-21 victory against Texas in the 2009 BCS National Championship. That was the first of what would go on to be six national titles in Saban’s first 15 years as he quickly turned Alabama into one of the most feared names in college football.

With Saban now 70 years old, he isn’t slowing down in his quest for more championships. Alabama fell just short of a seventh title under Saban this past season but is loaded with plenty of talent to make another run, including reigning Heisman winner Bryce Young.

After Greg McElroy, now an ESPN analyst, caught up with Nick Saban in a recent interview, he took to time to explain why he believes his alma mater has what it takes to collect another trophy in 2022.

“They have a great team this year, there’s no denying that,” McElroy said. “This is probably the most consistent run that we’ve ever seen in college football history. To have won at least 10 games every year since 2008 is a feat that’s absolutely remarkable. Of course, we all know about the unranked defeat that they experience last year for the first time since 2007. They lost to Texas A&M, who of course was unranked. But that was the first time they lost to an unranked team since Louisiana-Monroe of the 2007 season. So the steady hand that is Alabama is remarkable. It’s all because of Nick Saban. He is as consistent and as regimented as anybody in the entire game.”

Saban already has the most national championships of all-time with seven (one of which he won at LSU in 2003). His six titles with Alabama are tied with legendary coach Bear Bryant for the most in the school’s history.

Alabama boosted its roster quite a bit through the transfer portal his offseason, adding three of the top 10 players according to On3’s Transfer Portal Rankings. That includes former Georgia Tech running back Jahmyr Gibbs, who won A-Day Game MVP this spring after rushing for 100 yards and a touchdown on nine carries.

Saban certainly has a lot of talent to replace, as is the case most years. But with his talented recruiting classes plus these transfers, he should once again have Alabama as the team to beat entering 2022.