Alabama’s Nick Saban retiring as football coach

It’s the end of an era in Tuscaloosa and in college football.

Head coach Nick Saban is retiring, sources told Fox Sports.

Saban won six national championships with Alabama and one with LSU. His seven titles are the most by any coach in college football history.

The University of Alabama has been a very special place to Terry and me,” Saban said in a statement. “We have enjoyed every minute of our 17 years being the head coach at Alabama as well as becoming a part of the Tuscaloosa community. It is not just about how many games we won and lost, but it’s about the legacy and how we went about it. We always tried to do it the right way. The goal was always to help players create more value for their future, be the best player they could be and be more successful in life because they were part of the program. Hopefully, we have done that, and we will always consider Alabama our home.”

This year’s Crimson Tide went 12-2 after making the College Football Playoff with an upset victory over top-ranked Georgia in the SEC championship. Bama earned the No. 4 seed in the CFP but lost to No. 1 Michigan, the eventual national champion, in the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day.

Saban’s first head coaching gig came in 1990, when he led Toledo for a season. He then spent four years as the Cleveland Browns’ defensive coordinator before coaching Michigan State, from 1995 to 1999, and then LSU, from 2000 to 2004.

Before joining Alabama, Saban coached the Miami Dolphins in 2005 and 2006. That was his last job in the NFL.

Before Toledo, he had defensive coaching stints at Kent State, Syracuse, West Virginia, Ohio State, Navy and Michigan State and with the Houston Oilers. Saban played at Kent State as a defensive back.

Saban boasts an all-time record of 292-71-1 at the college level, including a 19-12 record in bowl games and a 9-5 record in the College Football Playoff. At Alabama, he went 206-29.