Mike Locksley shares conversation he had with Nick Saban prior to retirement

Mike Locksley shared a conversation he had with Nick Saban prior to the Alabama coach’s retirement this week.

Locksley once coached under Saban at Alabama, so of course, the phone conversation seemed totally normal. Except, Locksley didn’t see this coming.

The Maryland head coach did not expect his former boss to step away after this past season.

“Yeah, it was definitely surprising,” Locksley said on the Paul Finebaum Show. “Because of the work I do with the coalition, and coach being on the board, has been a really active board member with the job opportunities that we’re opening up throughout the country, you know, he’s the guy that has played a role in with the coalition and coming up with candidates of color or minority candidates, that have the ability to coach. 

“But the day before it happened, I literally had a phone call with him and he’d been interviewing some coaches and had called, and maybe wanted to ask and talk about a couple of the coaches and, you know, I assumed it was status quo.”

Then, Locksley was hit with the stunning news regarding Saban.

“And then, you know, 4:05 I get – my phone start blowing up and it’s Coach Saban just retired and I’m like, ‘What?’ And then I talked to him yesterday and I said, ‘Coach, come on now,” Locksley said. “The day before you were working and he told me up to 3:55 he was the Alabama coach and when he walked into the team meeting, he decided that it was time. And no surprise in Nick Saban fashion. He did it the way he chose to do it.”

As far as what’s next for the legendary coach, Saban hinted that he could hit television.

“I’d probably like to do that,” Saban told ESPN’s Rece Davis. “Somebody told me once, you can’t start a broadcasting career when you’re 80. But I’m looking for challenges.”

Saban has done some broadcasting work over the years, notably with College GameDay during the national championship a few times. In fact, according to Front Office Sports, ESPN has “long eyed” Saban for a role on the iconic pregame show. Davis told Saban he’d be good behind the microphone, if that’s what he decides to do.

Either way, though, it sounds like Saban doesn’t want a lot of down time.

“I’m gonna keep working,” Saban said. “I mean, I don’t want to get up and watch Netflix. I want to do something. You know, I have some businesses, maybe there’s some other opportunities out there for me somewhere.”