Nicholas Lou Saban Jr. (/seɪbən/; born October 31, 1951) is an American football coach who has been the head football coach at the University of Alabama since 2007.
Saban previously served as head coach of the National Football League's Miami Dolphins and at three other universities:
Louisiana State University (LSU), Michigan State University, and the University of Toledo.
Saban is considered by many to be the greatest coach in college football history.
Saban led the LSU Tigers to the BCS National Championship in 2003 and the Alabama Crimson Tide to BCS and AP national championships in 2009, 2011, 2012,
and College Football Playoff championships in 2015, 2017, and 2020.
He has won seven national titles as a head coach, the most in college football history.
He became the first coach in college football history to win a national championship with two different Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) schools since the inception of the AP Poll in 1936.
Saban and Bear Bryant are the only coaches to win an SEC championship at two different schools.
Saban's career record as a college head coach is 276–69–1. In 2013, Saban was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame.
Saban has also coached four Heisman Trophy winners at Alabama: Mark Ingram II (2009), Derrick Henry (2015), DeVonta Smith (2020), and Bryce Young (2021).
2022 season In his 16th season, Alabama started the year ranked #1 in the preseason AP and Coaches Poll.
It’s the 15th consecutive season the Tide have been #1 at some point of the year. In the season opener, Alabama shutout Utah State 55–0. Alabama traveled to Austin, TX for the first time since 1922 to play Texas.
In the first meeting since the 2010 BCS National Championship Game, Alabama overcame a late deficit to win 20–19.
The following week, Alabama defeated Louisiana Monroe 63–7. Alabama opened up conference play with a 55–3 win over Vanderbilt.
The next week, the Tide traveled to Fayetteville and defeated #20 Arkansas 49–26.
The Tide then defeated Texas A&M 24–20, avenging last season’s only regular season loss.
In the Third Saturday in October, Saban suffered his first loss as Alabama coach against #6 Tennessee, losing 52–49 on a last second field goal.
The loss snapped Alabama’s longest winning streak against the Vols at fifteen.
On homecoming, the Tide bounced back defeating #24 Mississippi State 30–6.
Following a bye week, Alabama traveled to Baton Rouge in a top ten matchup against #10 LSU. Saban suffered his second loss of the season, losing 32-31 in overtime.
Head coaching record College NFL Team Year Regular season Postseason Won Lost Ties Win % Finish Won Lost Win % Result MIA 2005 9 7 0 .563 2nd in AFC East – – – – MIA 2006 6 10 0 .375 4th in AFC East – – – –
Head coaching record College NFL Won Lost Ties Win % Finish Won Lost Win % Result MIA Total 15 17 0 .469 – – – Total 15 17 0 .469