Nick Saban Wins 'Icon Award' at 2024 ESPYS

Alabama 2009 Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram and 2021 Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young presented the award.

Jan 11, 2021; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban celebrates after defeating the Ohio State Buckeyes in the 2021 College Football Playoff National Championship Game. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports / Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Former Alabama head football coach Nick Saban was named the recipient of the "Icon Award" at the 2024 ESPYS on Thursday night.

Alabama 2009 Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram and 2021 Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young presented the award.

Saban was hired by the University of Alabama in 2007 and has led the Crimson Tide program to six National Championships (2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017 and 2020) and 11 Southeastern Conference title. He oversaw the program's first four Heisman Trophy winners in Mark Ingram, Derrick Henry, DeVonta Smith and Bryce Young.

On Jan. 10, he retired from coaching with a college record of 292-71-1 with 201 of those victories coming at the University of Alabama. The 72-year old coach was known as a prolific recruiter, having gone 16 consecutive seasons with a top-five recruiting class according to 247Sports. Saban produced 47 NFL first round draft picks during his tenure at the Capstone after no players were drafted at all from the program he initially took over in 2007.

Saban delivered a heartfelt speech after accepting the award from Ingram and Young:

“It’s an honor for me to have two of our Heisman trophy winners here to present this award to me. And I’m also very thankful for the other former players who played for us who are here tonight. We have a good group of guys here— enough that we could actually have practice here after this show. 

“We’ve always been blessed with having great individual athletes, but they’ve also been great people. And I think that’s what contributed to our success. And when you talk about iconic players like Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant or Serena Williams, it was all because of what they did. It was their points, it was their wins. But when you talk about iconic coaches, it’s all about how did you represent your team, how did your team represent you. Think about John Wooden and the success he had for years. Coach Bryant and the success that he had. Dawn Staley, who’s an icon coach in my mind for what she’s been able to accomplish winning at South Carolina. 

“So I can attest to you what it takes to build a team. You have to have great players and appreciate the way they compete. You have to have really good coaches who help develop the players. You have to have really good support personnel, who set the table so that the players can compete. You have to have great mentors, which I’ve had great mentors, who taught me how I could teach players, and how I could inspire learning in players so that they could actually be all that they could be."

“And you know, you have to have great support from your family. Ms. Terry’s been the love of my life for 52 years, and she’s supported me in every way as my family has. And I certainly appreciate that because there’s a lot of sacrifices families make in coaching. We actually moved 17 times before we got to Alabama."

“So, I can only accept this award on behalf of all the other folks that contributed to it— which there’s 1,000 of them. Every time I look at this, I’m gonna see the faces of all the people who worked so hard to help us be successful, and the relationships that were forged in those teams that made it so special. And it’ll also be the thing I miss most about coaching."

“There’s a lot of athletes in this room. There’s a lot of coaches in this room. There’s nothing like being part of a team. That’s what I’m going to miss. I’ve been part of a team since I was 9 years old. So with all this help and success, all I ever was, was the conductor of a process. And our process was to help every player be more successful in life because they were involved in the program. So No. 1, they had to respect the principles and values of the team, and they had to respect each other. And they had to be positive about how they went about their work, and how they set a good example and could be somebody that their teammates could emulate. And they could be responsible for their own self-determination, which is accountability to do their job and that they work and persevere and have pride in performance to be the best that they could be so they could dominate the competition."

“But in college, I think the No. 1 thing any player should do is make sure he develops a career for when he can’t play. We had 668 degrees in 17 years at Alabama because of what these guys did and their commitment to developing a career off the field, which I’m very proud of. And the one thing my dad told me when I was a young kid in West Virginia that was the most important part of your character is have compassion for other people. People aren’t gonna remember what you say, they’re gonna remember how you made them feel."

“And we have a Nick’s Kids Foundation, and it’s about helping kids. And all of these guys that play on our team, every one of them, build a house, did community service, did something to help somebody else. And one of the things that I’m most proud of is we have so many players now that have foundations of their own so they can help people in their community."

“One thing that would help all of our spirt and all of our society is if we would just change one thing. Instead of coming up to somebody and saying, ‘How are you today?’ Why don’t you say, ‘Who did you help today?’ And if you can help someone every day – and that’s what we’ve been talking about with perseverance, aight, with the things that we’ve done for military folks – it’s very important to us."

“So I really would like to thank ESPN for this honor and accept it on behalf of a thousand people who contributed to the success that we’ve had. But I’d also like to say to everybody in this room, because there’s a lot of great athletes, we have a responsibility and obligation, because sports bring people together better than anything."

“When we won the national championship in 2003 at LSU, I had Jessie Jackson come in and speak to the team, and he said to me, he said, ‘Your team on a Saturday night in Tiger Stadium is closer to the kingdom of God than my church.’ I said, ‘Jessie, you ever been in LSU stadium on a Saturday night You can smell the bourbon on the 50-yard line.’ And he said, ‘No, everybody has the same goal, the rules are clearly defined and everybody’s together in spirit."

“So we all have a responsibility and obligation to bring people together because our platform in sports can do that for so many folks. So help someone, bring people together, God bless you and thank you very much.”

Prior to Thursday night, Alabama football had won three ESPY Awards, with the first being when Tyrone Prothro’s catch vs. Southern Mississippi claimed the "Best Play" award in 2005, the second being when Heisman Trophy-winning wide receiver DeVonta Smith was named the "Best Male College Athlete" in 2021 and the aforementioned Young was also the recipient of that same honor in 2022.

Late 1990s Alabama great running back Shaun Alexander also thrived while in the NFL, as in 2006, the Seattle Seahawk won the "Best Record-Breaking Performance" award after rushing for the most touchdowns in a single season in NFL history (27). That said, then-San Diego Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson won the same award the next year after breaking Alexander's short-lived record.

The aforementioned Ingram and 2015 Heisman Trophy winner Derrick Henry were previously named nominees for the "Best Male College Athlete," but the awards went to other NCAA standouts. The Crimson Tide football team was also nominated for the "Best Game Award" in 2021 after Young led Alabama past Auburn in a 24-22 quadruple overtime thriller and softball's Jackie Traina was also nominated as the "Best Female College Athlete" in 2012. Tonight, the famous "Gravedigger" play on 4th-and-31 against Auburn was nominated for "Best Play."