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Ranking the 25 best head coaches in college football history

By Zach Bigalke

Apr 22, 2017; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban talks with defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt during the A-day game at Bryant Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 22, 2017; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban talks with defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt during the A-day game at Bryant Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports /
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Apr 22, 2017; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban talks with defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt during the A-day game at Bryant Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 22, 2017; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban talks with defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt during the A-day game at Bryant Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports /

5. Nick Saban

Like his contemporary Urban Meyer, Nick Saban is the only other member of this Top 25 list that has a chance to continue rising in relation to his fellow head coaches. Saban has won national championships with two different programs at a time in college football history where the championship has been decided on the field more than any previous era. Given his success in turning Alabama into a perennial powerhouse, it is valuable to look back at his early career.

Saban spent nearly two decades as an assistant coach. He got his first chance to take charge in 1990 when he was named head coach at Toledo. Saban went 9-2 in his one year with the Rockets before accepting a position on Bill Belichick’s staff with the Cleveland Browns. In 1995 he returned to the college ranks with Michigan State. By 1999, his final year in East Lansing, the Spartans went 9-2 and ranked in the top ten of both major polls. Saban then engineered an even bigger turnaround at LSU, leading the Tigers to the 2003-2004 BCS national championship.

Related Story: The 10 Best Teams Coached by Nick Saban

Saban left for the Miami Dolphins after 2004, but returned to college two years later. The rest has been history, as he has led the Crimson Tide to national titles in 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2015. Alabama has been the only team to participate in all of the first three versions of the College Football, in large part thanks to Saban’s process.

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