Why is Nick Saban called the GOAT? 

The era of Nick Saban in Alabama (and all of college football) is over. After 17 years as head coach of the Crimson Tide (28 years overall), Saban has called it quits and is leaving the game as one of the most decorated CFB coaches of all time. Or, perhaps, even the GOAT.

But why is Nick Saban called the GOAT, and not everyone else who's ever helmed a major college football team? Well, a look at his illustrious career on the NCAA gridiron speaks volumes – it likely won't be enough to contain it all in this post. However, here are a few reasons why out of everyone else, Nick Saban deserves the title.

Why is Nick Saban called the GOAT?

There's simply too much info to go around proving that Saban is one of, if not the greatest college football coaches to ever live. Fans all know how many national titles he's won or how many appearances in the CFP his teams have had, so they won't be the focus here.

But here are a few more, lesser-known reasons that prove why the former Alabama HC deserves GOAT status:

#1. Zero losing seasons

Yes, that's right. In his 28 years coaching NCAA football, Nick Saban has never had a losing season. This spans his stops in Toledo, LSU, Michigan State and Alabama. That's why Saban has earned himself a reputation for being almost unbeatable – and even if he does lose, his teams always come back the next game with an absolute vengeance.

#2. Insane winning percentage

The name Nick Saban is almost synonymous with winning in college football as well. He leaves the game with an all-time win-loss-tie record of 292-71-1, good for the sixth-most career wins in the FBS (via ESPN). His .804 is also the sixth-highest winning percentage for all coaches in college football history. Aside from that, he also has an insanely good .873 winning percentage as head tactician for the Crimson Tide.

#3. 15 straight seasons with a #1 ranking in the AP

With all that winning comes the rankings. And the AP has almost always picked Saban's teams as contenders every single year. 15 straight years of Nick Saban's squads being ranked #1 by the AP is a hard fact to wrap one's head around – but it is real.

#4. 11 SEC titles and 19 Bowl wins

Conference titles are not the same as national championships, but winning a conference title in the SEC is probably the closest to winning it all. With Saban beating two-time defending champs Georgia this year for the SEC title, he now has a total of 11 in-conference championships. He's also notched his 19th Bowl win in the victory, which made him the most among all active coaches before his recent retirement.

Are Nick Saban's kids adopted?

Yes, they are. Nick and his wife Terry Saban are parents to two children, daughter Kristen and son Nicholas, whom they adopted.

Not a lot is known about the two, which is likely a reflection of Saban's private nature despite being a well-known public figure. But the two now-adult Saban children are married and actively help in their parents' foundation, called Nick's Kids Foundation.

Not to mention, Kristen is active on social media, maintaining an Instagram profile with over 67k followers. She mostly posts photos of her family and gameday outfits both in Tuscaloosa and when the Tide is on the road.

Why did Nick Saban quit?

Saban's reason for calling it quits is a very simple one: his age.

As one of the oldest active CFB head coaches last season, the legendary tactician mentioned how his age has been making it hard for him to do his job right. Aside from that, he also mentioned how he's been mulling about calling it quits after every recent season (via USA Today):

"Last season was difficult for me from just a health standpoint, not necessarily having anything major wrong, but just being able to sustain and do things the way I want to do them, the way I've always done them," he said. "It just got a little bit harder. So you have to decide, 'OK, this is sort of inevitable when you get to my age.'"

Who is set to replace Nick Saban?

There will never be another Nick Saban, but 'Bama needed a new helmsman to take the reins for the future, and they already found him: former Washington Huskies head coach Kalen DeBoer (via USA Today).

As CFB fans should know, DeBoer was at the helm of the runners-up Huskies team that battled Michigan this year for the national title. So he is far from a slouch. And rightfully so, Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne had this to say about his newest hire:

"Coach DeBoer has proven he is a winner and has done an incredible job as a head coach at each of his stops. One of the things I told our team the other day is we are going to get someone who is not only a great coach with the Xs and Os, but also someone who cares about his players and someone I'd want my sons to play for, just like I would have wanted them to play for Coach Saban. We got that in Coach DeBoer."