“I didn’t wanna ride the program down” - $80M worth Nick Saban opens up about facing challenges during the last leg of coaching career

Nick Saban has given more insight into his decision to retire as the head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide. He shockingly decided to retire following the Crimson Tide's loss to the Michigan Wolverines in the Rose Bowl.

It was a surprise that he decided to retire, but Saban, who has a net worth of $80 million according to Celebrity Net Worth, says he needed to move on.

“We just adapted to (NIL),” Saban said at the Paul Finebaum show on Monday, vis ON3. “We actually won when we had to deal with name, image and likeness. I wish we’d have won the Playoff game this year... We had a good team coming back, but I didn’t want to ride the program down."

"I tried to hire three coaches and every one of them wanted to know how long I was gonna be there at the end of the season. Every recruit wanted to know how long you’re gonna be here."

“When you’re 72 years old, it’s hard to say, ‘I’m gonna be here for the next four years.’ But the question I had for a lot of people is, ‘How long are you gonna be here?'”

Following Saban's retirement, Alabama went out and hired Kalen DeBoer from Washington as their new head coach.

However, to no surprise, after Saban's retirement, a significant number of Alabama players followed Saban by leaving the program.

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Nick Saban reveals the major change in his life since retiring

Although Nick Saban will still be involved in football as he will be an analyst for College GameDay on ESPN, his life has changed quite a bit.

Saban says the biggest difference in his life is the fact he no longer is in a rush to get things done, as his life had been so structured for so long.

“What feels different is, I spent my whole life for 50 years being in a hurry. Gotta do this. Gotta go see this guy. Gotta do a home visit. Whatever it takes during the season day in and day out to try to get prepared for a game and get the team prepared. When I retired, I wasn’t in a hurry anymore," Nick Saban said.

"I really didn’t even know what that was like. It’s been pretty good. The first thing I got when I retired the next day, I had a 12 commandments of being retired from Miss Terry. I’ve had to live up to those standards."

Nick Saban finished his career with an all-time record of 292-71-1 while winning seven national titles. At Alabama, he won six national championships and went 201-29.