Nick Saban lost his final college football game as a head coach to Michigan in the Rose Bowl. He decided to step down from his post at Alabama not long thereafter and made way for Kalen DeBoer.
The huddle played a role in his retirement. Seriously.
Saban took over the Crimson Tide in 2007. He made nine national championship appearances and won six of them, en route to an all-time record of 201-29. It was a remarkable run over more than 15 years.
College football looks completely different today than when Saban started in Tuscaloosa. So much so that the pendulum actually swung back in the other direction.
Pace of play was drastically slower during Saban’s first few years at Alabama. Most of the nation’s top programs would get in the huddle, chew the clock and make their opponents stop the run. Defenses would stack the box. It was ground and pound, rough and tumble football.
Take 2009 for example!
Mark Ingram ran the ball 271 times for 1,658 yards and 17 touchdowns. Trent Richardson had 145 carries for 751 yards and eight touchdowns. Greg McElroy threw for only 2,500 yards. The Crimson Tide won the national championship.
That is no longer the case. College football throws the ball a lot more often. Spread offenses took over.
Saban recently revealed on The Triple Option podcast that Michigan’s old-school style in 2023 ultimately proved to be a major challenge. Alabama didn’t know what to do, which is the polar opposite of how it was when the dynasty was in the peak of its run.
Our players didn’t know how to adjust to that. In a 10-year period we went from not being able to play against no-huddle to struggling to play against a team that did get in a huddle.
— Nick Saban
The haters might say the game passed Nick Saban by, but this new revelation actually negates that idea. College football moved so far toward the no-huddle offense, the huddle actually played a big role in the final loss of his career. Pretty crazy!