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Deion Sanders Flawlessly Summed Up ‘Powerful’ Impact of Nick Saban’s Retirement

The Colorado Buffaloes football coach put the Alabama Crimson Tide coaching legend’s career exit in perspective.

Tim Capurso

Deion Sanders Flawlessly Summed Up ‘Powerful’ Impact of Nick Saban’s Retirement
Deion Sanders Flawlessly Summed Up ‘Powerful’ Impact of Nick Saban’s Retirement /
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Legendary Alabama coach Nick Saban sent shockwaves through college football when he announced his retirement last week after 17 seasons in Tuscaloosa. 

Perhaps no one summed up the impact those shockwaves had on the sport better than another larger-than-life figure, Pro Football Hall of Famer and Colorado coach Deion Sanders. 

Sanders discussed Saban’s retirement during an appearance on ESPN analyst and former NFL quarterback Robert Griffin III’s podcast, RG3 and The Ones, on Thursday. In the process, the Colorado coach perfectly described the domino effect that the Alabama coach’s retirement decision had on “three different programs.” 

“He is so powerful and so strong that he’s affected three programs. He’s affected Alabama by leaving. He’s affected Washington by that guy leaving. Now, he’s affected Arizona by that guy leaving,” Sanders said. 

Sanders hit the nail on the head, as Saban’s decision has quite literally impacted the decision-making processes of each program he mentioned.

The Crimson Tide had to quickly find a replacement for arguably the greatest college football coach of all time, which they did in Washington’s Kalen DeBoer. Then, the Huskies, fresh off of a run to the national title game, had to find a replacement for DeBoer, which they did in Arizona‘s Jedd Fisch.

The impact doesn’t end there, either. Now it’s San Jose State that’s looking for a new coach after Brent Brennan left to take the Arizona job.

The chain reaction from Saban’s retirement is spreading far and wide throughout the sport. And that’s not even mentioning the mass exodus of Crimson Tide players leaving the program in the transfer portal.

There likely won’t be another move this powerful in quite some time. 

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Tim Capurso
TIM CAPURSO

Tim Capurso is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Prior to joining SI in November 2023, he wrote for RotoBaller and ClutchPoints, where he was the lead editor for MLB, college football and NFL coverage. A lifelong Yankees and Giants fan, Capurso grew up just outside New York City and now lives near Philadelphia. When he's not writing, he enjoys reading, exercising and spending time with his family, including his three-legged cat Willow, who, unfortunately, is an Eagles fan.

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