"Not feeling like you're in a hurry all the time": 7X National champ Nick Saban on his ‘refreshing’ post-retirement life

Nick Saban is enjoying life after retiring as the head coach of Alabama Crimson Tide. In a recent appearance on the Next Round podcast, the college football legend opened up about his post-retirement lifestyle. He talked about one refreshing factor that has made his time all the more enjoyable.

When asked if his life after stepping down from the helm in Tuscaloosa has been everything he had imagined it would be, Nick Saban said:

“No, it has. You know I spent my whole life so busy. I didn't have any opportunity to enjoy anything else. So this gives me an opportunity to do some things I have never been able to do before. Whether it's in business, whether it's ESPN work, whether it's speaking, trying to influence people in a positive way. Spending a little more time with Miss Terry and family.”

So Coach Saban is enjoying life a little more than he did while he was still working. According to him, not feeling like he is in a hurry all the time has been one refreshing change in his lifestyle.

“Not feeling like you’re in a hurry all the time, which is kinda refreshing,” he added.

Coach Saban spent five decades as a football coach at various levels, including the last 17 years as the Alabama head coach. He won seven national titles, registering his name as one of the best college football coaches of all time. Now that his coaching career is behind him, he has been able to pursue his hobbies and is often seen playing golf these days.

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Nick Saban said he would have returned to coach Alabama under one condition

When Nick Saban retired in January this year, the whole college football world was in shock. While covering the 2024 NFL Draft on ABC, the legendary head coach said there was one scenario that would have seen him back for another season in Tuscaloosa. If the five Alabama players picked in the first two rounds of the draft had returned to play another college football season.

In his last season as head coach, Nick Saban led the Crimson Tide to an SEC title, beating the two-time defending national champions the Georgia Bulldogs. The team made it to the playoffs before falling to Jim Harbaugh's Michigan at the Rose Bowl. Three of his main players, namely Terrion Arnold, JC Latham and Dallas Turner, were added to the long list of first-round draft picks from the Alabama football program in the last 17 years.