John Calipari congratulates Nick Saban on "tremendous" career

In case you’ve been offline or under a rock, Nick Saban is retiring. With seven national championships under his belt, the 72-year-old coaching legend is hanging it up after 17 seasons at Alabama, leaving behind him a legacy that will likely never be topped.

The sports world has been reacting to the news since it broke yesterday afternoon. I can imagine Saban’s phone has been lighting up nonstop. Last night, he took a call from John Calipari, who just shared this tribute to Saban on social media.

I talked to Coach Saban last night. He may be the best or one of the best at what we do. Two examples come to mind: him hugging a struggling kicker during a close overtime loss to LSU in 2011, only to have them come back and beat the Tigers in the national championship. The second was this year. They lose early to Texas and struggle the following week against USF. He then turns the team around to being within a play or two of competing for another championship.

He was at a place where winning wasn’t always enough and he handled it with grace.

I admire his focus, but more importantly how he got his teams to focus, on one objective: to win championships! Tremendous run by one of the best to ever do it! Congrats, Coach Saban!

John Calipari/Twitter

I talked to Coach Saban last night. He may be the best or one of the best at what we do. Two examples come to mind: him hugging a struggling kicker during a close overtime loss to LSU in 2011, only to have them come back and beat the Tigers in the national championship. The… pic.twitter.com/sqAp7UATOc

— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) January 11, 2024

Saban’s retirement now leaves Mark Stoops as the longest-tenured coach in the SEC at eleven seasons. John Calipari, in the midst of his 15th season at Kentucky, is also the longest-tenured coach in the SEC in his respective sport. It probably doesn’t get them any perks (dibs on parking spaces at Media Days?), but the deans of the SEC both reside in Lexington.

What’s Next for Alabama?

Filling Nick Saban’s shoes is an impossible task, but someone has to coach the Crimson Tide next season. Dan Lanning was the early frontrunner for the job but announced this morning that he’s staying at Oregon. Who will Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne focus on next? Our friends over at BamaOnLine have an early list of candidates, which includes Kalen DeBoer (Washington), Lane Kiffin (Ole Miss), Mike Norvell (Florida State), Steve Sarkisian (Texas), and Dabo Swinney (Clemson). Kiffin would be my choice because of how he embraces the transfer portal and NIL, but Matt said on this morning’s show that he’s hearing Steve Sarkisian is who the folks in Tuscaloosa like, along with Lanning, who, as mentioned, removed his name from the running.

BamaOnLine is breaking down all the latest developments as they happen, but you can also join us on KSBoard as we chat about who we’d prefer to lead the Crimson Tide.

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