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Auburn University students are already celebrating arch rival University of Alabama football coach Nick Saban's reported decision to retire.
Live streamed footage from an Auburn, Alabama, city camera showed the trees at Toomer's Corner already being rolled with toiled paper within an hour after ESPN's Chris Low report that Saban had informed the Alabama football team of his retirement decision. Auburn students famously throw toilet paper over the oak trees following big wins.
Saban went 13-8 in Alabama's annual Iron Bowl matchup against Auburn, which includes the 27-24 win at Auburn in 2023 to extend the Tide's winning streak to five consecutive games. The 72-year-old is just one week removed from guiding the 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.
Saban had previously downplayed retirement speculation during his weekly appearance on 'the Pat McAfee Show' last Thursday (December 4), three days after his team's loss.
“Look, I ask everybody who asks me that question, ‘Are you going to be here for four years?” he said. “Some players ask me when I’m going to retire. I look at them and say, ‘Can you guarantee me that you’re going to be here for four years? They look at me like, ‘Hell, no.’ ...
“I just think it’s the way of the world now.”
Saban, who also coached the NFL's Miami Dolphins for two seasons prior to being hired by the Crimson Tide in 2007, won six national championships and nine SEC championships during his 17 seasons at Alabama, having previously led SEC West rival LSU to a BCS national championship in 2003 and two SEC titles in 2001 and 2003. The West Virginia native concludes his collegiate coaching career with a 292-71-1 overall record, which includes one season at Toledo, five seasons at Michigan State and five seasons at LSU.