The dust has finally settled and there is an empty office at the Mal Moore Athletics Facility in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The office will sit empty until one of the biggest coaching hires in all of North American sports is made. Who on planet Earth will replace Nick Saban?
His decision to retire from coaching shocked the nation in ways many had not predicted. The greatest college football head coach chose to go out in the most Saban-way imaginable: a snap judgment made five minutes before a pre-scheduled meeting on a random Wednesday shortly after the season ended.
No farewell tour, no planning ahead, no balloons and confetti. He didn’t need it, and I can almost guarantee you he wouldn’t have wanted it.
Now, Saban is working alongside University of Alabama athletics director Greg Byrne to hire a replacement. Their goal is simple: Find someone who can carry on the tradition of winning in Tuscaloosa. The standard has been set by Saban, which means the next coach to roam Bryant-Denny’s sidelines will have the weight of the entire Yellowhammer State on his shoulders.
The coaching search has been active for just over a day, but it’s felt like decades to many Tide fans.