Nick Saban Struggled With Retirement Decision Until the Final Moments
In five minutes the college football world changed.
Legendary Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban announced his decision to retire on Wednesday but it wasn't a decision he came to lightly.
Saban cited to ESPN's Rece Davis on Thursday his concern that he was unable to uphold the standards that he had set for the program when he first arrived in Tuscaloosa in 2007 as the primary reason for his decision to walk away from the Crimson Tide.
Who did Saban confide in when considering his future?
"Miss Terry mostly and I think, her - she's my best friend and we've always been close and we've always made decisions together. Whether it was career decisions, personal decisions, whatever it might be. I think she was a little concerned about, 'are you going to be able to sustain the standard and expectation of what we want to try to accomplish at Alabama?' and, 'can you do that or can't you do that?' and, 'I don't want to see you kill yourself trying'," said Saban to Davis.
The seven-time national champion has been leading a college football program for 26 years of his life. He's made relationships across the college football world and he undoubtedly understands the economic impact of his decision to walk away from the University of Alabama at this time.
"It was a hard decision. Look, I love coaching. I love the relationship with the players. The thing that made it more difficult for me is I felt like it might be the right time for me, but how it impacted the players and the coaches, all the people who work here in the building who contribute to the success of the team, how would it affect them. That was the hard part. That was the part I kept vacillating on back and forth. I was on the phone - we had a meeting at 4:00 and it was 3:55, I was sitting in my chair looking at the clock saying 'you've got five minutes to decide which speech you're going to give'. I was actually talking to Miss Terry right up until that time. It was a difficult decision because it impacts and influences the lives of so many people," said Saban on Thursday.
The Saban's celebrated their 52nd wedding anniversary this past December, a mark serving as a testament to their love and dedication to one another. Miss Terry was as consistent as she's ever been during their relationship during the five minutes that ultimately caused the college football world to come crashing to a halt.
"She said I will support you in whatever you choose to do. She said I will work hard if you want to stay and do it one more year, but that's the problem when you get my age. It's enevitable that it's coming at some point in time. This year, next year, the next year, and I didn't want to work on a year-to-year basis. I don't think that's fair to your staff, I don't think it's fair to the players, I think you need to make long-term commitments to people. It's always been my goal to help people be more successful in life, the players involved in the program. You can have a record and you can have a legacy. Your legacy is more 'how did you do it?'. What I've always tried to do and what I want my legacy to be is 'you helped a lot of people be more successful in their life because you impacted them personally, they got an education, they had a better chance to have a better quality of life and you helped them developed a career as a football player, so maybe they realized their dream in that goal and aspiration. I don't know for sure what the legacy is going to be, but that's what I'd like for it to be."
