Nick Saban Retires as Alabama Head Coach

Alabama head coach Nick Saban is retiring, sources told Action Network's Brett McMurphy.

The 72-year-old leaves college football as perhaps the greatest coach of all time. Alabama won six national championships and nine SEC championships under his tenure.

Saban’s retirement was first reported by ESPN's Chris Low.

This year posed a particular challenge for the head coach, navigating the relatively new player empowerment waters and facing a team that lacked offensively relative to earlier years. Still, with a series of flat outcomes, the Crimson Tide snuck into the College Football Playoff with a win against Georgia in the SEC Championship Game.

In what will most likely be Saban's last game as a college football coach, Alabama went down to Michigan in overtime in the Rose Bowl, as the Wolverines won their first national title since 1997.

With the news, Alabama's odds to win it all next year fell from +550 to +600 at DraftKings, with experts expecting that number to fall, especially if a series of recruits find themselves toward the transfer portal. At FanDuel, that line moved down from +550 to +1000.

Oregon head coach Dan Lanning is expected to be the top choice to replace Saban at Alabama, Action Network's Brett McMurphy reported.

Lanning has been at Oregon for two years but was at Georgia from 2018-21, including the last three years as defensive coordinator. In 2015, he was a graduate assistant at Alabama.

Already, a recruit has de-committed from Alabama. Five-star wide receiver Ryan Williams — ranked the No. 1 overall WR in the 2025 recruiting class — has rescinded his commitment to the university.

In a corresponding move, Ohio State and Georgia saw their odds shorten amid the news.

Saban, who turned 72 on Halloween, ends his career at Alabama with an all-time record of 206-29 straight up (88%) and 127-103-4 (55%) against the spread. He won six national titles at Alabama and another national title at LSU.