When Steve Sarkisian shared unique ability of Alabama legend: "Nick Saban sees beyond firing of individual coaches"

Former Alabama Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban retired in January but left behind a long list of coaches he mentored. Famously referred to as "the Saban coaching tree," it includes some of the premier names in college football, including Georgia Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart and Texas Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian.

The latter has revealed how the retired coach helped to revive his career after the Trojans fired him in 2015 by offering him the offensive analyst's post in Tuscaloosa. He was promoted to interim offensive coordinator in 2016 before being given the full-time job in 2019 and eventually getting the Texas head coaching job in 2021.

During an episode of ESPN's College Football released on Sept. 10, 2022, Sarkisian spoke about how Saban perceived the coaches who had been sacked and hired by himself into the Alabama coaching staff.

"I think he sees beyond the firing of individual coaches and digs into the coach, the scheme, the developer of talent," Sarkisian said. (2:06)

Nick Saban continues to support Steve Sarkisian

Nick Saban did not typically lose to his assistants (29-3), but during his final season, the Texas Longhorns, led by his former offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian, defeated the Alabama Crimson Tide 34-24 in Tuscaloosa.

During the 2024 SEC media days as an analyst for the SEC Network, Saban revealed how well Sarkisian set up his teams and how difficult it was to play against the Longhorns.

“I kind of always hated playing against Sark,” Saban said. “In practice for several years, as well as when we played them the past couple of years. Because they do such a good job with what I call squeeze splits.

“When you’re in squeeze splits, how can this guy get to that side of the field quickly, which messes up your pattern matches. So, I always hated playing against Texas and Kirby (Smart's) got some of the same issues that we had.”

Steve Sarkisian revealed his gratitude for the role that Nick Saban played in his life during the 2024 SEC media days.

“No one have you impacted more than me," Sarkisian said. "I would not be standing here today without you and what you’ve meant to my career, and to my life, I can’t thank you enough, and the impact that you’ve had on our game has been second to none, and I just can’t thank you enough.

"I want to be able to do that publicly for you, Coach. Thank you very, very much.” [via SI.com].

Despite predicting that the Texas Longhorns would not run the SEC championship like they did the Big 12, Nick Saban still backed Steve Sarkisian's team to be in the conference championship game against another of his former assistants, coach Kirby Smart's Georgia Bulldogs.