Nick Saban says he's 'not close' to retirement, reaffirms commitment to the grind

As Nick Saban gets ready for his 27th season as a head coach, the speculation still runs rampant about retirement. The legendary Alabama headman continues to say he’s not going anywhere, though.

Saban, 70, appeared on The Dan Patrick Show on Friday and addressed a potential timeline for retirement. He remained steadfast that retirement isn’t on his mind and discussed why he’s so driven to stay on the sidelines. After all, he’s coming off a national championship appearance and has the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation coming in next year, according to the On3 Consensus Team Recruiting Ranking.

“I don’t really think about retiring,” Saban said. “I always think about what the heck am I going to do if I do retire? That’s a scary thought. … There’s nothing that I want to do like some people want to go to Europe or go to Scotland and play golf and all that. I wouldn’t mind doing all that stuff, but I don’t have to quit my job to do it. I worry about what am I going to do if I don’t do this?

“And when I say, ‘What am I going to do?’ I don’t mean play golf or whatever. I mean, how are you going to get any kind of positive self-gratification or feeling of accomplishment when you’ve done something for so long that you like so much and then all of a sudden it’s not there? So that’s a good question. I don’t really have the answer to that one.”

Patrick then asked which legendary coach will retire first: Saban or New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick. Saban didn’t answer the part about Belichick, but affirmed his commitment to the daily grind.

“That’s a hypothetical question that I’m not sure I’m qualified to answer,” Saban joked. “I don’t know what his feelings are, so I really can’t speak for him, but you know how I’m kind of committed to the grind.”

Nick Saban discusses whether he could end up coaching high school football after college coaching career

Patrick also posed another interesting question. Would Saban consider coaching at the high school level once his college coaching days are done? He said he enjoys working with high schoolers when they come to Tuscaloosa for camps, and didn’t exactly rule it out.

“I like coaching players,” Saban said. “When we have high school camps here or we have young players, I enjoy coaching those players as much as I enjoy coaching our players. Of course, you only have them for a day or two, but it’s still the whole thought of helping somebody get better.

“Coaching is teaching. Teaching the ability to inspire learning. If you’re doing that, I think there’s a lot of positive self-gratification in that, as well.”