Former Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban won a lot of games during his legendary run with the team, leading the Tide to six national titles as he established himself as the most successful and accomplished head coach in the history of the game. But as he looks back on his career, it’s not the winning that he will miss the most. It’s the people.
During a recent interview with the media at the Regions Tradition Pro-Am this week, Nick Saban was asked what he misses the most about coaching now that he is retired, and he made it clear that he misses the relationships he had with his players more than actually coaching.
“Relationships with players,” Saban said according to On3. “I actually played golf with Mark Ingram and Tua (Tagovailoa). Had them up on Monday. Those relationships you have with players, man. There’s nothing that beats that. But we care about them all. So, we’re going to continue with the relationships.”
Saban has been pretty open about how much the relationship with his players meant to him throughout his coaching career, especially in the later years of his career.
So while he will go down as perhaps the greatest coach in college football history, his lasting memory is his relationship with his players.