Steve Spurrier relates to Nick Saban's decision to retire: 'It's time for a little vacation'

When it comes to cutting loose and unwinding, Steve Spurrier knows a thing or two. And though the former Florida and South Carolina head coach might be wired a little differently than Nick Saban, he relates to what the Alabama head coach felt in the lead up to his retirement on Wednesday.

Spurrier shared on The Paul Finebaum Show on Thursday the likely machinations for Saban and his wife, Terry Saban, more commonly know as “Miss Terry.” Eventually, Spurrier said, even the most competitive of coaches come to realize it might be time for a break.

“But coach Saban, he’s had a remarkable career. And he probably looked in the mirror and he and his wife said, ‘At some point we gotta take a little time. It’s time for a little vacation,'” Spurrier said.

And as coaches, Spurrier said, one eventually starts to wonder how much more of the race they’re willing to run.

“You start thinking ‘Well, how much longer do you want to do this, that and the other?'” Spurrier said.

For Spurrier, retirement meant a chance to golf, and Saban will likely avail himself to the same opportunity to play year-round. He and his wife recently bought a palatial home in south Florida.

“I saw that he bought that house down in Jupiter with Tiger and Justin Thomas. He and Justin are good buddies, aren’t they? So I’ve got a feeling he’ll play some golf with him and Justin’s dad, probably. He has a property down there, also. So you gotta go do something else,” Spurrier said. (Thomas recently sold his house in the area.)

Saban, who turned 72 in October last year, is also stepping away at a time where he’s still healthy and physically capable. While time eventually catches even the freshest and healthiest of coaches — Spurrier noted arthritis keeps him from golfing as much as he’d like too — Spurrier noted that both he and Saban left the sport in much better shape than another legendary Alabama coach: Paul “Bear” Bryant.

Bryant died 26 days after retiring as the Alabama head football coach. Speaking with Finebaum, Spurrier highlighted that coaches have learned to take better care of themselves during stressful, long career. And he joked that neither he, nor Saban, are prolific smokers like Bryant was.

“Life changes as you go. But obviously football coaches nowadays make tons of money, all kinds of money. And you don’t want to coach til — like coach Bryant, he passed what, two months or something after he retired?” Spurrier said, pausing for Finebaum to step in with a firm answer, which the host dutifully provided. “26 days, yep. Now, our lifestyle’s a lot different than coach Bryant’s. I think those cigarettes that he had all day, all the time — that led to that more than probably the coaching and all that.”