"NFL stands for 'Not For Long'": When Nick Saban explained the importance of preparing college players for life after football

Nick Saban had an interview with ESPN following his retirement in January 2024. The seven-time national championship-winning coach unexpectedly announced his retirement from coaching a week after Alabama's Rose Bowl loss to Michigan in the College Football Playoff.

In the interview with Rece Davis, Saban was questioned on how difficult the Alabama job will be for his successor following his unrivaled level of success in college football while at Tuscaloosa. The coach discussed the core values that were held on to, which ensured success.

One of these values was preparing the players for life after football. Nick Saban noted that he always emphasized personal development to the players and that played a big role in ensuring on-field success. The coach took a jibe at the NFL, stressing the importance of college in his reply.

“A player is really going to college to prepare himself for the day he can't play football, even though these guys all have dreams and aspirations of playing in the NFL and we certainly wanted to help them do that,” Saban said (Timestamp 16:27).

“But the NFL stands for ‘Not For Long.’ The life expectancy is not great and only a few people make it. So, what do you do next? And that's what I always try to emphasize to the players and they bought into it fairly well.”

Nick Saban believes there's a great structure at Alabama to aid his successor succeed

Following the retirement of Nick Saban, it was widely expected that his successor would face a lot of difficult times living up to the standard in Tuscaloosa. However, Saban believes there’s a structure in place at the program that will go a long way in ensuring the next coach succeeds.

“I think there's a great team of people here,” Saban said (Timestamp 15:44). We get great cooperation in the university community. We've had a great graduation rate. We've got really good personal development programs and good people who help guide players in a way that they have a better chance to be successful.”

“We've done a good job of developing players, we've had a lot of really good coaches, and we've had a lot of really good players. And I think it's because we have a great team of people who are dedicated to creating value for players.”

Kalen DeBoer replaced Nick Saban at Alabama following his successful tenure at Washington. However, his first season with the Crimson Tide was pretty difficult, finishing with a 9-4 record. Nonetheless, it wasn’t much of a disaster, as the team showed glimpses of bouncing back on track in several instances.