Kevin Steele reveals how Nick Saban 'played until the last play' with retirement decision

As the 2023 season went along, some wondered if it would be Nick Saban’s last. He spoke multiple times about how much he was enjoying coaching this year’s Alabama team en route to a College Football Playoff appearance, but deflected questions about his retirement.

Even one of his closest assistants said he didn’t necessarily pick up on any signs during the year. However, as he looks back on his final year on staff, Kevin Steele said what many others have about what turned out to be Saban’s last hoorah.

“There were things that, looking back, you kind of say if I’d have paid closer attention, I would’ve known,” Steele said Thursday on The Paul Finebaum Show.

Last season was Steele’s third stint as an assistant coach under Saban. He first worked at Alabama from 2007-08 and returned from 2013-14. The two developed a relationship during the early part of their coaching careers and, as a result, Steele was one of the people closest to Saban. That meant he knew exactly how the coach operated.

That’s why, when Saban ended up announcing his retirement just days after Steele, he wasn’t surprised at how it happened. Saban was interviewing potential coaching candidates before he met with the players to inform them of his plans – literally waiting until the final minute to make a final decision.

It’s exactly how he went about his in-game decisions.

“On the other side of it, as you well know, his process is his process and he was actually interviewing people up to an hour before he announced his retirement,” Steele said. “I think that was all by design in case that he changed his mind. He didn’t want to be three, four, five days behind. That’s the way he operates.

“He’s gonna play until the last play. You’ve seen him through the years go ballistic up 45-3 and some third-string quarterback make a mistake, it was like the game was on the line and you were gonna lose. He’s gonna play until the last play, which he did on this.”

Now, Alabama is entering a new era with Kalen DeBoer taking the reins. He took Washington to the national championship this past season – his second after leaving Fresno State to take over the program. Nick Saban will still be around, too. After all, he said he’ll have an office at Bryant Denny Stadium, and DeBoer made it clear he’ll continue to ask for advice.