College Football: Ranking 10 best head coaches from past 5 seasons
By Ryan Kay
Nick Saban (continued)
Even though Alabama did not win the national championship, Nick Saban and his team once again won arguably the toughest division of all of college football in the SEC West as well as winning the conference. They won 14 games with nine of those being against the top 20 teams.
Saban still had the best program in all of college football but Clemson would be challenging Alabama for supremacy moving forward.
In 2017, Alabama entered the season ranked No. 1 in the country and it looked like it, defeating No. 3 Florida State, 24-7. The Crimson Tide would put up 41 points in both of their next two games as they easily defeated Fresno State and Colorado State. The offense would take it up a notch as it scored 59 and 66 points in wins over SEC opponents Vanderbilt and Mississippi, respectively. The Crimson Tide only allowed a total of three points in those two games.
After a tough hard-fought victory at Texas A&M, Alabama beat Tennessee and Arkansas both by 30-plus points. Then Saban and his team would play two top 20 teams in No. 18 LSU and No. 19 Mississippi State and both resulted in victories for the Crimson Tide. After an easy win over Mercer, Alabama would play Auburn for who would win the SEC West and play in the SEC title game.
As the No. 1 Crimson Tide traveled to play at No. 6 Auburn, a lot was on the line. Alabama for the first time in 2017, was not able to score 24 points or more points as the Tigers defense held the Crimson Tide’s offense to only 14 points. Alabama’s defense would give up the most points in a game for the season as Auburn put up 26. The loss wasn’t devastating for Saban and his team but losing to your bitter in-state rival and not being able to play for the opportunity to win the SEC title ended two good streaks that Alabama had going for it.
However, Alabama still got into the playoff thus having an opportunity to compete for a national title. Even as the No. 4 seed, Saban and his Crimson Tide team were still very capable of defeating No. 1 seed Clemson. The most surprising aspect of the game was not that Alabama would beat the Tigers, but how they stifled Clemson’s high-powered offense and limited them to only six points. The Crimson Tide scored 24 points and fairly easily defeated their rival to advance to the national championship game.
Alabama would face an SEC opponent in No. 3 seed Georgia in the national title game. The offense struggled mightily against Georgia in the first half as they were unable to score any points. The Crimson Tide made a surprising move by switching quarterbacks to start the second half. The gamble ended up working as Alabama put up 20 points in the third and fourth quarters to force overtime.
In overtime, Saban would reach his goal of getting another national title as the Crimson Tide defeated the Bulldogs thanks to a Tua Tagovailoa heave to win by three. It was a season to remember as Alabama showed the college football world that they weren’t going anywhere.
In 2018, Alabama dominated the regular season more so than in previous seasons. When Saban and his team completed their first 12 games of the season, their closest game was a 45-23 victory over No. 22 ranked Texas A&M. Alabama scored 50 or more points eight times in that 12-game span. The Crimson Tide also pitched shutouts of No. 4 LSU and No. 18 Mississippi State in back-to-back weeks.
Saban and won another SEC West title and would face Georgia in a rematch of the previous season’s national title game in the conference championship.
In the SEC title game, Georgia would give Alabama its toughest game of the season by far. The Bulldogs led the Crimson Tide by a score of 21-14 at halftime. The Tide would outscore Georgia 14-0 in the fourth quarter giving Alabama a 35-28 victory and another SEC title. The Crimson Tide would earn the No. 1 seed in the playoff and square off against No. 4 Oklahoma.
In the semifinal, Oklahoma, like Georgia, gave Saban and his team a game, especially in the second half. The first half looked like a blowout as Alabama went into halftime with a 31-10 lead. However, the Sooners would score 24 second-half points to put up the most points of the season on the Crimson Tide defense. However, Alabama won 45-34, allowing Saban to compete for yet again another national championship.
In yet again a college football matchup against Clemson, Alabama knew that the game would not be easy. What Alabama didn’t know was how difficult the game would be as the Tigers looked more than ready to not only win the national championship but to do it in dominating fashion. The Crimson Tide defense was shellshocked as Clemson’s offense looked like a well-oiled machine in the first half scoring 31 points. Alabama’s offense was decent in the first half, putting up 16 points.
In the second half, the Tigers’ defense didn’t give Saban and his offense an inch as they shut out Alabama. The final score was a shocking 44-16 victory for Clemson and Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney made a huge statement that they were ready to take over the college football kingdom that Alabama had dominated over the past decade.
The 2019 season was a letdown for Saban and his team not because they didn’t play well or that they didn’t win a lot of games, because they didn’t win their division and most importantly didn’t make the playoff. Last season, Alabama won their first eight games but their schedule in 2019 was much easier early on as Crimson Tide only played one top 25 ranked team.
In the much-anticipated game against No. 2 LSU at home, Alabama played well but lost 46-41. Saban and his team would win their next two games in easy fashion to be 10-1 on the season but Alabama had a tough task as they would travel to play at No. 15 Auburn.
In the Iron Bowl matchup, the Crimson Tide looked to defeat their in-state rival. However, in a very hard-fought game, Alabama would lose by a field goal. The loss knocked them out of the playoff picture as they had two on the season. Saban’s team would end the season on a good note as they defeated Michigan in the Outback Bowl but not qualifying for the College Football Playoff was disappointing based on the very high expectations for the program.
Some coaches have built kingdoms over the past five seasons, Nick Saban continued to build an empire these past five years as the head coach of the Crimson Tide. Not only did he dominate most of his opponents in order to expand his vast empire, but he, for the most part, dominated in arguably the toughest division in all of the college football which is the SEC West.
No coach comes close to his five national championships in the past 10 seasons but Clemson’s Dabo Swinney has equaled his two national titles in the past five seasons. Saban, however, has taken Alabama to four national title games over the past five years and that is a major accomplishment in itself.
Every season for the past five seasons, he has lead Alabama to 11 or more victories. Other than Swinney, no coach in America has come close to what he has accomplished as an FBS head coach. He still more than likely will be considered the greatest college football coach of all time when it’s all said and done.
Point breakdown for Saban
- 2 National Championships: 100 points
- 4 College Football Playoff appearances: 160 points
- 3 regular-season conference titles: 90 points
- 4 division titles: 80 points
- 7 bowl wins: 70 points
- 9 bowl appearances: 45 points
- 5 seasons with 10 or more wins: 25 points
Total coaching points: 570
Coaching highlights over the past five seasons
- Saban led the Tide to national titles in 2015, 2017
- 3 SEC titles (2015-16, 2018)
- 4 SEC West titles (2015-18)