Nick Saban: NIL was 'not at all' the reason he retired

As a guest of Sen. Ted Cruz earlier this week, Nick Saban opened up about the impact of NIL on college football. The now-retired Alabama head coach spoke at length about how much the game has changed and how the “values” he believed in over his 50-year coaching career “no longer exist.”

Although he sees some flaws with the system, though, Saban told FOX News’ Bret Baier NIL was not the reason he retired.

That’s consistent with what Saban, 72, said after initially announcing his decision in January. He cited his age as a reason for his decision when informing players of his retirement. That was again the case in his interview on Thursday, reiterating his feelings when he asked by recruits if he’d coach for at least four more years.

But Saban also praised Alabama’s efforts to stay at the forefront of the NIL landscape, even though he doesn’t think it’s a perfect setup.

“No, not at all,” Saban said when asked if NIL was the reason he retired. “I just never wanted to see the program go down, and I felt whether it was recruiting or hiring coaches and people wanting to know how long you’re going to be there. And when you get to 72 years old, it gets harder and harder to promise people you’re gonna be there for four or five more years.

“I loved coaching. We adapted well to the system. At Alabama, we were one of the ‘haves’ in this new, current system even though I see some serious problems with it moving forward in the future.”

Nick Saban: ‘I’m looking forward to the new chapter in my life’

Nick Saban spent 50 years in college coaching, winning seven national championships during his legendary career. Toward the end, though, questions continued to come in about how much longer he’d don the headset and patrol the sidelines.

Now, he’s getting ready to do something he hasn’t done in a long time: relax.

“Hey, I’m looking for the new chapter in my life,” Saban said. “I enjoyed coaching for so many years. Again, age – this is a young man’s game in a lot of ways, and I never wanted to ride the program down. I didn’t want my age to be a detriment to the University of Alabama, to the football program and the chances of it being successful. It was inevitable that I had to retire sometime.

“I love the players, I’ll miss the relationships that I have with the players. I hate how this impacted some of the players and the people in our organization. But I’m looking forward to new challenges in my life. I’m not ready to quit working. We’ll see how it goes.”

As for whether he’ll coach at some level down the road, Saban said he’s focusing on his work with ESPN as an analyst on College GameDay, as well as his business ventures. It’s part of his desire to work with others.

“I’m gonna work on TV and do some things like that and stay involved in football,” Saban said. “I have businesses that I enjoy being part of and got some good partnerships and relationships out there.

“I still want to be part of a team. That may not be in coaching, but it may be in something.”