Terrion Arnold encourages Alabama fans to keep current Alabama players in prayers after Nick Saban retirement

The news that Nick Saban was stepping away from the game and retiring hit current Alabama players like a tidal wave, rocking them to their very core.

After all, Saban is all most of them knew.

The news was so unexpected and so sudden that former Alabama defensive back Terrion Arnold, who recently declared for the 2024 NFL Draft, had a message for fans when it comes to the current players on the team. They need support.

“If I would have anything to say I would say for the people who aren’t believing and stuff, I would just say just keep the guys in your prayers, like even as far as talking to like Caleb Downs, Jalen Milroe, different guys like that,” Arnold said on The Next Round podcast. “This really does hurt.”

The potential is there for some serious attrition, though the swift hire of Washington head coach Kalen DeBoer should certainly help in that regard.

In any case, the news came about so quickly that even Alabama players were having trouble processing it. Things were in motion rapidly starting on Wednesday afternoon.

“I was talking to Jalen earlier today, they were supposed to have a team meeting yesterday but it got canceled because of the storm,” Arnold said on Thursday. “And I’m actually still in the group chat. They going to have to kick me out. With that being said, they were supposed to do that, and since they were supposed to do that it got canceled, so they had it today.

“So I’m calling, I’m like, dang, what’s all this going on? Because my first thing was like let’s call. They’re not answering. So when they’re not answering I put two and two together, so I’m like so if we’re seeing these sources about him retiring, he must be telling the guys right now because that’s the type of person he is. And so after getting confirmation all the sources were saying Nick Saban retiring, stuff like that. He was in the middle of telling the guys.”

DeBoer is expected to have an introductory press conference at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday. He’ll likely begin informing the public about his strategy when it comes to Alabama football, including retaining players.

Make no mistake about it: That is the key order of business right now for the Crimson Tide.

“Because I just think about it, if I was there in that situation right now, your head coach gone,” Arnold said. “At Alabama this is all we know. People saying we should celebrate, all this. Which we obviously should, but at the end of the day this is a sad day in Alabama. It’s a sad day.”