According to ESPN’s Chris Low, Saban isn’t anywhere close to riding off into the sunset.
“Nick took it a step further with me saying, ‘It’s something I couldn’t even imagine, me not coaching football,”’ Low said. “So I think the guy is going to coach well into his 70s.”
“I used to always think that the most unbreakable record in the realm of SEC football was Paul Bear Bryant’s 159 SEC wins. I don’t think it is completely out of the realm of possibility that Nick would coach long enough where he’d have a shot to make a run at that.”
Saban’s SEC record stands at 100-25. Alabama typically goes 7-1 in conference play each year, so if that standard continues, it would take Saban about nine seasons to top the Bear.
Saban is 66, turning 67 in October. If Low is correct that he plans on coaching well into the next decade of his life, the math shows he could theoretically pass Bryant at some point.
“Why would he walk away?” Low added. “He’s had tremendous success. It’s all he knows.”