Hall of Fame Induction Video
Nick Saban – Kent State (Football and Baseball, Toledo Football Head Coach)
Nick Saban has won more college football national championships than any coach in the modern era and spent 28 years as a college head coach at Toledo (1990), Michigan State (1995-99), LSU (2000-04) and Alabama (2007-23). He won seven national titles in those 28 years, his first at LSU in 2003 before capturing six championships at Alabama (2009, 2011-12, 2015, 2017 and 2020). He also coached the Miami Dolphins for two seasons (2005-06).
Saban's teams won three national championships during the Bowl Championship Series era and three more after the start of the College Football Playoff. In 10 seasons of the CFP, Saban's Crimson Tide teams qualified eight times.
Saban compiled a 297-71-1 (.806) collegiate coaching record, including a 206-29 (.877) mark in Tuscaloosa. His teams won a combined 11 SEC titles, going 11-1 in SEC Championship Games, including nine at Alabama (9-1 record) and two at LSU (2-0 mark). He also won 15 games with the Dolphins in 2005-06.
In Saban's six national championship seasons at Alabama, his teams went 21-2 against top-10 opponents, and, since 2008, the Crimson Tide was 37-15 overall against top-10 teams. Alabama was also ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press Poll for at least one week for 15 straight years (2008-22), which broke the record of seven established by Miami (1986-92).
Saban coached four Heisman Trophy winners, joining Notre Dame's Frank Leahy for the most in college football history. He is the only coach to ever coach Heisman Trophy winners at three different positions (RB, WR, QB). The Alabama program had just six individual national award winners when Saban arrived on campus, but Crimson Tide players have secured 60 national awards since 2008.
His players at Alabama have won 66 All-America honors by 58 different individuals over the past 16 seasons. Eight players have been named two-time All-Americans along with 46 consensus honors and 25 unanimous selections. Will Anderson Jr. became the first two-time unanimous All-American in Alabama history.
Saban's success has also translated to NFL success for his players with a record 49 players chosen in the first round of the draft (44 at Alabama).
Alabama's success on the field over the past 17 seasons has coincided with the Tide's success in the classroom. Since Saban's arrival in 2007, Alabama football has seen a total of 656 degrees earned, including 103 master's degrees.
Saban's first head coaching position came at the University of Toledo in 1990, as he guided the Rockets to a record of 9-2 that year, finishing as co-champions of the Mid-American Conference. The Rockets ranked among the NCAA leaders in both total defense (12th at 284.8 ypg) and scoring defense (16th at 16.2 ppg) and missed posting an undefeated record by a mere five points.
A native of Fairmont, West Virginia, Saban graduated from Kent State with his bachelor’s degree in elementary education in 1973 and earned his Master of Education degree in health and physical education in 1975. While at Kent State, he was a safety on the Golden Flashes football team and was a member of the 1972 squad that won the university’s first conference championship.
During his time at Kent State, Saban earned three letters in football and one in baseball from 1970 to 1972. In 1973, he was a graduate assistant coach and defensive assistant for the Flashes. He was inducted into the Kent State Varsity K Hall of Fame in 2015.
Saban and his wife, the former Terry Constable, have two children, Nicholas and Kristen. They have been married for 44 years and are enjoying the company of their granddaughter, Amélie, a daughter-in-law Kelsé and son-in-law Adam Setas.
The Sabans Nick's Kids Foundation is a vibrant example of the family's continuing concern for disadvantaged children. Since Nick and Terry arrived in Tuscaloosa, over $12 million has been distributed to students, teachers and children's causes at over 150 charities through the Nick's Kids Foundation.
