On Wednesday evening, Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban shocked the college football world when he announced his sudden retirement. Based on recent details that have since emerged, it sounds like he shocked most people in the Alabama program, as well.
According to a report from 247 Sports, Nick Saban cited his age and health concerns as reasons why he was choosing to retire, but the decision came as a shock because there was no indication at all on Wednesday that anything was out of the ordinary. In a pretty shocking turn of events, he continued working as usual until suddenly announcing his retirement to the team.
“The 72-year old didn’t mention any specific health issues, according to sources, and kept his speech to the team short and direct. His retirement decision caught many inside the building by surprise because he was working until the moment he told the team he was retiring,” 247 Sports reported on Thursday morning.
“Earlier in the day, Saban interviewed candidates for his vacant wide receivers coach opening, according to sources, and didn’t give any indication he was about to flip the college football world upside down. He told some staff members of a 4 p.m. team meeting but did not tell them ahead of time that he was going to retire with multiple indicating surprise at his decision.”
It’s not clear exactly when Saban decided he was going to retire, nor is it clear who Alabama intends to bring in to replace him. However, 247 Sports did report that the program hopes to have his replacement within 72 hours.
