Nick Saban Admonishes Greg McElroy for Unretirement Whispers

The former Crimson Tide head coach was not a fan of recent speculation that he might come back to the sidelines.

Aug. 5, 2025; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; Nick Saban uses Cedric Burns’ back to help him sign autographs during the Nick’s Kids Foundation Luncheon at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Burns said they have been doing things this way for years when there is nothing else to sign on. | Gary Cosby Jr. / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Legendary former Alabama head coach Nick Saban's retirement was a sudden shock when it happened in January of 2024. The subject of Saban, a seven-time national champion as a head coach (six times at Alabama), returning to the sidelines was broached again last month.

On July 14, former Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy said "someone notable" had told him that they believed Saban's coaching days were not over. On Monday at the Nick Saban Legacy Awards in Birmingham, Saban took a moment to address the rumors raised by the starting quarterback of the Crimson Tide's 2009 national championship team.

"I don't know where that came from. Greg McElroy played quarterback for us, and if he had done something like that when he was a player, he would've got his ass kicked," Saban said candidly. It's evident Saban was no fan of the former New York Jet's remarks.

Current Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer, hired two days after Saban's stunning announcement that he was stepping away, was asked about what McElroy had said during SEC Media Days. DeBoer has a tremendous amount of respect for Saban, and that shone through in his response.

"He's one of the greatest to ever do it, so he's earned the right to do what he wants," DeBoer stated on July 16. "The best part about what Coach Saban is doing right now is he's still involved in the game. He's growing the game. He brings passion to it."

Saban will turn 74 years old on October 31. Age was one of the factors that led him to make the decision to retire when he did, mere days after a Rose Bowl loss to eventual national champion Michigan (which beat DeBoer's Washington Huskies in the title game) ended the season of a team considered by many to be among his best coaching jobs.

After the Crimson Tide went 9-4 last season, failing to reach the 10-win mark for the first time since Saban's inaugural season at the helm, fan nostalgia about his tenure ramped up. That nostalgia will never go completely away, but it certainly does not mean he will return, nor does it mean that a large number of individuals even saw it as a viable possibility.

"I heard all the scuttlebutt and everything about it. I almost laughed. It was like somebody needed something interesting to talk about yesterday," Georgia coach Kirby Smart, Saban's longtime defensive coordinator at Alabama, said on July 15. "The game is better with him involved, and he is involved."