"Are you going to be here for four years?": Nick Saban shuts down retirement speculation with a witty comeback about his tenure at Alabama

Alabama coach Nick Saban, who lost 27-20 in overtime to Michigan in the Rose Bowl, appeared on "The Pat McAfee Show" on Thursday and discussed his retirement.

The 72-year-old said he has no plans to retire anytime soon. He joked that he always asks people who question his future if they have been committed to their jobs for four years.

5× SEC Coach of the Year said some players have asked him when he will hang up his whistle, and he replied,

“Can you guarantee me that you’re going to be here for four years? They look at me like, ‘Hell, no.’ ... I just think it’s the way of the world now.”

It seems Nick Saban is not done yet. The Alabama coach will be back for the 2024 season, despite losing to Michigan in a thrilling overtime game in the Rose Bowl, which was a College Football Playoff semifinal.

Nevertheless, Saban got the chance to explain why his defense struggled to stop Michigan’s offense.

Nick Saban provides clarity on why his defense failed

Rose Bowl Game: Alabama coach Nick Saban

While addressing the usual rumors of his retirement, he also noted the unique challenge of facing a huddle offense and the error he made on the game's final play.

The coach said Michigan’s offense used a huddle formation that most teams have abandoned in favor of a hurry-up style. According to Saban, Bama's defensive coaches had to make calls without seeing the Wolverines’ alignment, which gave them an advantage.

“They’re the only team that we played all season that got into a huddle. So, you know, it used to be every team was in a huddle. We play our first team of the season where we’re playing a team in a huddle,” said the Head coach.

“So you don’t have the advantage of seeing those formations until they come out of the huddle, so you got to make the calls.”

Widely regarded as one of the best coaches in football, Nick Saban also put his pen at fault for the final play of the game.

He said that he should have given Jalen Milroe two plays to choose from in the huddle so that the quarterback could have changed the play based on what he saw from the defense.