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It’s been a rough start to the 2023 season for head coach Nick Saban. The Alabama leader saw his team get dropped in Week 2 at home by the Texas Longhorns.
After that contest, Saban addressed the media to talk about the loss. Some of his postgame comments have fans questioning his future on the sidelines.
The Crimson Tide were beaten on Saturday, 34-24. Texas used three fourth-quarter touchdowns to gain the lead and pull away late. In that contest, quarterback play would prove crucial.
Longhorns signal caller Quinn Ewers threw for nearly 350 yards and a trio of scores while Alabama’s Jalen Milroe struggled. Milroe threw two picks and completed just 52% of his attempts in the loss.
When the clocks hit zero, the Tide were on the losing end. After the game, Saban spoke to the media about what went wrong.
One interesting quote is now going viral, and it has some questioning his future with the program.
I’m NEVER in the “Saban’s done” or “Saban’s retiring” crowd. Ever. Wouldn’t ever be near suggesting anything like that.
But after a 10 point non-conference loss at home, this was fairly odd to me for some reason: pic.twitter.com/V6dTCkasgo
— Sidelines – Bama (@SSN_Alabama) September 10, 2023
“It’s a privilege to play in games like this. It’s a privilege to play at the University of Alabama. It’s a privilege to play where you have such great tradition. It’s a privilege to play where you have such great fan support.”
Some are now reading between the lines, coming to the conclusion that the legendary head coach might be thinking of hanging it up.
“This sounds like a guy who’s retiring soon,” one person said.
“This sounds like a farewell tour speech,” echoed another.
“Was he saying goodbye?” this follower asked.
Some around the Alabama football program are ready to see Saban go as they believe his time as the nation’s best coach has come to an end. They already have his replacement.
Alabama fans want Deion Sanders to replace Nick Saban.
To absolutely no one’s surprise, Alabama fans are targeting Coach Prime as Saban’s replacement. And why not? All he’s done is surpass last year’s win total in Boulder with wins over Nebraska and TCU.
After taking over a 1-11 program, Sanders has completely flipped the roster and looks to be a potential force in the PAC 12.
Crimson Tide supporters have seen enough.
Nick Saban needs to retire so #Alabama can hire Deion! #RollTide pic.twitter.com/l0gCCIePGp
— Message Board Geniuses (@BoardGeniuses) September 10, 2023
According to some, it’s not as crazy as it sounds.
Clint Lamb, an analyst for On3 Sports, gave his take on the growing speculation.
“Any Deion following Saban (whenever that may be) takes aren’t crazy,” he posted on Twitter. “Zero fear, can recruit at an elite level, has similar demands from those in his organization, etc. Not saying it’d happen (who knows where things will be when Saban decides to hang it up), but it’s not crazy.”
While Lamb suggests that it wouldn’t be a shocking move, he didn’t seem to believe that Saban would leave Alabama after this year. The pressure is on to get things turned around, though, as the Tide look to get back to the SEC Championship and College Football Playoff.