Alabama Locks Up Nick Saban For Another 7 Years

Photo: University of Alabama Athletics

by Chas Phillips

On Monday, Alabama extended head coach Nick Saban likely for the final time, as the soon-to-be 70-year-old coach signed an extension that will annually pay over 8 million dollars until 2028. This keeps Saban squarely in the upper echelon of highest paid coaches in the sport, with Dabo Swinney of Clemson being the only one making around the same amount.

Saban will look to add on to his record 7 national titles in his 14 years as a college football head coach, as well as his 170-23 record at the helm of Alabama. Saban’s Alabama teams have also made an appearance in all but one College Football Playoff since the system was implemented in 2015, winning three of them.

In that time span, Saban and Alabama have also dominated the recruiting trail, never finishing below sixth in class rankings since 2015 and having the best class in the nation over half of those years. In addition to the championships and recruiting success, alumni of Saban have gone on to have tremendous success in the NFL, having over 60 players drafted since 2015.

This announcement comes less than a week after another premier SEC coach, Florida’s Dan Mullen, received a lofty extension of over $7.5 million per year through 2027, making him one of the 10 highest paid coaches in the nation with just one division title in 3 seasons to his name. Mullen had, interestingly, been the only head coach other than Saban in the SEC since 2010 to still be employed by the same school, Mississippi State, until he joined the Gators in 2017.

Mullen’s Gators are coming off of their best season in a decade, winning the SEC East and taking the eventual national champions Alabama to the wire in the SEC Championship Game before falling 52-46.

Both Saban and Mullen will look to build on last year’s success, but in very different ways. For Mullen, the extension provides him some more wiggle room to make an impact on the Florida program, and try to win his first SEC title and playoff berth. For Saban, it is a chance to further cement his case as the greatest college football coach of all time, and continue to change college football history with his dominance of the game for a second decade.