Randy Smith: Nick Saban No Longer In A Hurry

Since retiring earlier this year, former Alabama head football coach Nick Saban says the biggest change in his life is the fact he's no longer in a hurry. "I spent 50 years being in a hurry and didn't even know it," Saban recently told ESPN. "So when I retired and sat back and didn't have so many things to do, I figured out that wasn't normal."

Saban shocked the college football world earlier this year when he announced he was stepping down after winning six national championships for the Crimson Tide. He won 201 games in Tuscaloosa while losing just 29 in 17 seasons. His overall record of 292-71-1 ranks sixth among FBS coaches all-time. Perhaps the most amazing stat on Saban's resume is this; he never had a losing season as a college head coach in 28 seasons. There is a lot of speculation as to why he retired when he did and most of that speculation revolves around the NIL deals and the transfer portal which opens this week.

Saban had been accused of cheating by paying players for years, though that's never been proven. And now that paying players is legal through the Name, Image and Likeness plan, a lot of people are saying that he is too "old school" to compete any longer. Several weeks ago, he stated that recruits were more interested in how much money they could make, rather than playing time and winning championships. So, at the age of 72 he decided he had done all he could do, though if he had coached one more year, he could have easily won his 300th career game.

Instead of walking the sidelines this coming fall, Saban will be behind the mic as a contributor for ESPN's College Game Day. I think however, that he's going to miss coaching immensely. That's all he's done for the last half-century and by the way, he's done it very well. He's generally regarded as the greatest college football coach ever with seven national titles...six of them at Alabama and he has nothing more to prove. But this is not the same game that it was when his coaching career began. Athletes are more self-absorbed than they used to be and Saban was right when he talked about their interest in money and money alone.

Since the portal is now open for business, a record number of players will be transferring to other schools, looking for that big-time deal. And now Nick Saban is no longer involved. The "being in a hurry" can be for someone else. Spending time with Terry, his wife of 53 years, has replaced spending time with pompous, selfish athletes. And that's a good thing.