Greg Byrne not taken by surprise by Nick Saban's retirement

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne met with now-former head football coach Nick Saban at 3 p.m. every Sunday during the season. Byrne would update Saban on the happenings of the week, and Saban would do the same. With arguably the two most powerful men at the University of Alabama speaking regularly, Wednesday’s announcement that Saban was retiring after 17 seasons with the Crimson Tide did not shock his AD.

“When he would talk about his future, he was very transparent with me,” Byrne told reporters on Saturday. “I don’t want to say a date and time, but I couldn’t have asked for better communication as the retirement came. … I wasn’t taken by surprise, no.” 

Byrne introduced Saban’s successor, Kalen DeBoer, during a press conference at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Byrne made the hire a hair over two days (roughly 49 hours) after Saban told his players he was stepping away as their coach and discussed how he stayed ready to make the most important hire of not just his time at Alabama but his life.

“From the time that Regina and I came here seven years ago, my goal was, as the athletic director, to do everything we could to support Coach Saban so he coaches here as long as he physically and mentally wants to keep coaching,” Byrne said. “And then at the same time, too, making sure we’re prepared when that time comes that he says it’s time to time to retire and to support him through that process, as well. 

“Well, when it comes to coaches, coaching searches and thinking about the future, you never want to say, ‘Oh, I guess I better start looking and putting things together today.’ So as you can imagine, over time, I was always preparing, hoping that I’d never have to execute the plan. 

“But when the time came, I felt we had a good, solid plan and knew because of the transfer portal and NIL and everything else going on, it wasn’t the same as it used to be. So we had to adjust our thinking of the way our approach would be, and that’s what we did.”

DeBoer comes to Alabama after two seasons as the head coach of the Huskies after having led them to a national championship game appearance. He has a 104-12 record as a head coach at Washington, Fresno State and Sioux Falls, an NAIA school and his alma mater, but has never coached in the South. However, he was willing to follow the greatest college football coach of all-time, which means something. It certainly meant something to Byrne.

“One of the things I thought about was you better have somebody who’s comfortable in their own skin and that looks at this as a challenge and as an opportunity, not as a detriment,” Byrne said. “And almost immediately for Coach DeBoer and Nicole, too – because think of the impact that Miss Terry’s had, right – they saw this as what a wonderful opportunity. 

“… Early on, I was like that approach that they’re going have, I think if you listened to him up there today, you heard that, right? Just what an opportunity. Don’t look at it as a negative but instead look at it as an incredible opportunity and challenge in a positive way.”

Saban has said he will stick around Tuscaloosa and even have an office inside the stadium. He helped in the search for his replacement and has already been a sounding board for DeBoer in less than 24 hours on the job. Having Saban still be around the program is something the new coach is embracing, and even welcoming, as a new era begins for the Crimson Tide.

“I rang him up this morning,” DeBoer said. “I talked to him yesterday and that was kind of an introductory call just to get some insight but just some insight on a few things. I feel confident enough in my abilities along with knowing that you have someone that wants this program to be so successful. I firmly 100 percent believe that he wants nothing but the best. 

“Some leaders and some people when they leave, it’s like, ‘You know what, I want to be that legend and I don’t want it to be as good as it was when I was there.’ That’s obviously not the case. I think all of you would know that. He wants this thing even better. His legendary status will never be questioned.”

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