Following the retirement of Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops this week, it was a given that Alabama coach Nick Saban would be asked to address the exit of one of college football's most successful coaches, and of course, address his own future in the sport.
The answer? Saban sees no clear end to what has been a dominant 10-year run at Alabama.
"As long as I feel good, I love doing it," Saban said, per the Alabama Media Group. "I've said this before: I've been a part of a team since I was nine years old. It scares me to death to figure what it's going to be like when I'm not a part of a team. So, as long as I feel good and I'm healthy and I can do it, we certainly have every intention of trying to do it. If I felt like I couldn't do it to the standard that I want to do it, then I think that would be time not to do it. But I certainly don't feel like that's any time soon."
That will sound like music to Crimson Tide fans, and like fingernails on a chalkboard to rivals.
Saban has won five national titles, four over 10 seasons at UA. He'll turn 66 in October, but he maintains a highly energetic schedule and shows little or no sign of slowing down. Clemson denied Saban a sixth national title in January with a 35-31 win over the Crimson Tide in the College Football Playoff title game.
Stoops announced his retirement Wednesday at age 56, with one national championship and 10 Big 12 titles. Saban's contract was recently extended through 2024 on a deal worth $65 million. It's hard to imagine he'll coach through the conclusion of that deal -- he'll be 73 by the end of the 2024 season -- but for now, he's still "scared to death" of the thought of retirement. And that should scare the rest of college football.
*Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter **@ChaseGoodbread*.
