Recently retired seven-time national champion Nick Saban is joining ESPN, the network announced on Wednesday (February 7).
Saban, 72, will primarily serve as an analyst for the college football live touring show 'College GameDay,' while also being featured on several other events showcase his expertise, including the NFL Draft and SEC Media Days.
"ESPN and College GameDay have played such an important role in the growth of college football, and I'm honored to have the opportunity to join their team," Saban said in a statement. "I'll do my best to offer additional insights and perspectives to contribute to College GameDay, the ultimate Saturday tradition for college football fans."
Saban announced his retirement on January 10 and addressed it in an exclusive interview with ESPN's Chris Low the following day.
"I want to be there for the players, for the coaches, anything I can do to support them during this transition," Saban said. "There are a lot of things to clean up, to help as we move forward. I'm still going to have a presence here at the university in some form and trying to figure out all that and how it works. This is a place that will never be too far away from [my wife] Miss Terry's and my hearts."
Saban confirmed that he informed his staff and players of his retirement decision during a meeting held in the team room on the day of the initial report, which he said took less than 10 minutes.
"I wanted them to know how much they meant to me," Saban said. The last few days have been hard. But look, it's kind of like I told the players. I was going to go in there and ask them to get 100 percent committed to coming back and trying to win a championship, but I've always said that I didn't want to ride the program down, and I felt whether it was recruiting or hiring coaches, now that we have people leaving, the same old issue always sort of came up -- how long are you going to do this for?"
Saban was just one week removed from guiding the Alabama Crimson Tide to a record eighth College Football Playoff appearance, having lost his final game to the eventual national champion Michigan Wolverines, 27-20, in the Rose Bowl College Football Semifinal in Pasadena, California, at the time of his decison. The 72-year-old had previously downplayed retirement speculation during his weekly appearance on 'the Pat McAfee Show' on December 4, three days after his team's loss.
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