Alabama reveals Nick Saban's new job with football team after retirement

Nick Saban retired from coaching after winning a college football-record seven national championships, but he'll still be around the program

Nick Saban made the bombshell announcement of the college football offseason, and arguably in the sport's history, by retiring from head coaching, but that doesn't mean the NCAA-record seven-time national champion will be leaving Alabama completely.

UA athletic director Greg Byrne said that Saban will still be an integral part of the Alabama football program going forward as an advisor.

"He is going to be an advisor for us," Byrne said on The Paul Finebaum Show.

"He's been awesome. He and I talked during the coaching search. I mean, somebody asked me, 'Was he involved?'. I was like, man, I'm not very smart; many people know that, but I'm smart enough to know when you have a chance to have Nick Saban involved with talking about coaching and football and decision-making and leadership, shame on me if I don't take advantage of that."

Saban has also played a minor role in talking to recruits to pledged to him.

"He's been very helpful trying to talk to the young men that he's recruited here, and just again say we're in a really good spot going forward, and he'll continue to be here and be part of our program. And we're very happy for that," Byrne added.

Still, the Crimson Tide hasn't been immune to losing personnel, as more than two-dozen players have entered the transfer portal since Saban's retirement, in addition to a half-dozen 2024 recruits, including 5-star wide receiver Ryan Williams.

Kalen DeBoer has plenty of work ahead of him keeping Alabama in contention, but he'll have the greatest of all time on speed-dial for whenever he needs some help.

(Finebaum)

---

More college football from SI: Top 25 Rankings | Schedule | Teams

Follow College Football HQ: Bookmark | Rankings | Picks