Matt Leinart gives first reaction to Nick Saban retirement

Matt Leinart took some time to react to the news that shocked the college football world earlier this week, Nick Saban’s retirement from Alabama.

The former USC Trojans star made his own impact on the sport, but Saban’s fingerprints will never be rivaled. Leinart respects that, and he was astounded when he heard the news that the legendary coach was walking away from the game.

“Nick Saban is the best to ever do it!” Leinart captioned a video he posted to X. Check out his full thoughts below, as the former Heisman winner tried to make sense of Saban’s decision.

Nick Saban is the best to ever do it! pic.twitter.com/T8JcNbLEIn

— Matt Leinart (@MattLeinartQB) January 11, 2024

“Huge news in the college football world, Coach Nick Saban is officially retiring from Alabama,” Leinart said, via a video shared to X, formerly known as Twitter. “Coach Saban is the greatest college football coach of all time. There’s no debate. There’s no question. He’s the GOAT, by far and away. What he was able to do, multiple places, but in particular Alabama. All of the national championships. The Heisman Trophy winners. The recruiting, the players. Getting to the NFL. He’s the best to ever do it.

“That is wild. It was one of those situations where you just never thought the guy would ever retire. But he does. That shakes up all of college football.”

Alas, Leinart was extremely complimentary of Saban following the news of the former Alabama leader’s decision. That’s the only way you can send out a legend, with immense respect for his contributions to the game.

Matt Leinart recognizes what the college football world as a whole has, the sport won’t be the same without Nick Saban. We’ll see if Alabama can keep up their success with one of the best to ever do it calling it a career.

More on Nick Saban’s retirement, Alabama Crimson Tide

Moreover, Nick Saban’s storied coaching career started 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.

On3’s Grant Grubbs contributed to this article.