Nick Saban reacts to surprise College Football Hall of Fame induction on College GameDay

Ahead of the Texas–Ohio State showdown on Friday, ESPN’s College GameDay crew surprised co-host Nick Saban by telling him he is being inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Instead of gloating about the achievement, Saban immediately praised all the coaches and players who helped him along the way.

“Anytime anything like this happens, it’s because you had a lot of great people in your organization,” Saban said. “A lot of great players, a lot of great coaches, a lot of support staff, and they made a great team. And I was happy to drive the bus, but we had some great people on it. So thank you so much.”

If anybody deserves a spot in the Hall of Fame, it’s Saban. The college football icon coached for over half a century and won seven national titles as a head coach, the most by any college coach ever. Saban won all but one of those national titles during his 17 seasons as Alabama‘s head coach. He won the other at LSU in 2003.

Saban won 201 games at Alabama — tied with Vince Dooley (Georgia) for the second-most wins at a single school in SEC history. Saban only trails Bear Bryant, who won 232 games in his 25 seasons with the Crimson Tide.

Nick Saban will be joining the College Football Hall of Fame‼️

Well-deserved 👏 pic.twitter.com/fCWcpYWkNI — College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) January 10, 2025

In total, Saban boasts an all-time record of 292-71-1 at the collegiate level. For his efforts during his extensive career, Saban was named the SEC Coach of the Year five times and the AP Coach of the Year twice.

Saban not only helped his players find success in college but at the next level too. Saban coached 52 first-round draft picks in his career – the most by any coach in college football history – including 47 at Alabama.

During his time in Tuscaloosa, 133 of Saban’s players were drafted into the National Football League with an astonishing 91 going in the first three rounds of the draft.

Nick Saban is the fifth Alabama coach to be elected to the College Football Hall of Fame and the 27th inductee in program history. The 2025 class will be officially inducted during the 67th NFF Annual Awards Dinner on December 9, 2025, at the Bellagio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

The inductees will also be recognized at their respective collegiate institutions with NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salutes during the fall. Their accomplishments will forever be immortalized at the Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.

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