Nick Saban

Nicholas Lou Saban Jr. ( SAY-bən; born October 31, 1951) is an American sportscaster and former football coach. He serves as an analyst for ESPN's College GameDay, a television program covering college football. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest football coaches of all time. Saban served as head coach of the National Football League (NFL)'s Miami Dolphins and at four universities: the University of Toledo, Michigan State University, Louisiana State University (LSU), and most famously the University of Alabama, where he coached from 2007 to 2023 and led the team to six claimed national championships and one unclaimed championship in nine championship appearances during that period, as well as 9 SEC titles and 10 SEC West Division championships. As a college football head coach, Saban won seven claimed national titles and one unclaimed national title, the most in college football history. His first came when he led the LSU Tigers to the BCS National Championship in 2003. He then coached the Alabama Crimson Tide to BCS and AP national championships in 2009, 2011, 2012, and to College Football Playoff championships in 2015, 2017 and 2020 with Alabama also having an unclaimed National Championship in 2016 that was selected by Colley. He became the first coach in college football history to win a national championship with two different Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) schools since the inception of the AP Poll in 1936. Saban and Bear Bryant are the only coaches to win an SEC championship at two different schools. Saban's career record as a college head coach is 292–71–1. Saban was inducted into the Independence Hall of Honor in 2008, Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 2013 and the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in 2025. He coached four Heisman Trophy winners at Alabama: Mark Ingram II (2009), Derrick Henry (2015), DeVonta Smith (2020), and Bryce Young (2021). In 2025, Saban was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach.