The former Alabama football coach on Friday learned he has been named to the College Football Hall of Fame’s 2025 class on ESPN’s episode of ‘College GameDay’ at the Cotton Bowl between Ohio State and Texas.
‘I didn’t know anything about it,’ the seven-time national championship coach jokingly said after he was told of his selection.
Ironically, Saban learning about his hall of fame induction comes one year to the day he announced his retirement from coaching. He is currently in his first season as an analyst on ‘College GameDay’ with Rece Davis, Kirk Herbstreit, Pat McAfee, Desmond Howard and Lee Corso.
‘Thank you so much. Anytime this happens is because you have a lot of great people in your organization. Lot of great players, lot of great coaches, lot of support staff and they made a great team. Happy drive the bus but we had a lot of great people on it,’ Saban said.
Saban began his coaching career at Toledo in 1990, where he led the Rockets to a 9-2 overall record. From there, Saban spent five seasons in East Lansing, Michigan at Michigan State before moving onto the Southeastern Conference and LSU.
In his four seasons at LSU from 2000 through 2004, Saban led the Tigers to a 48-16 overall record, 28-12 mark in SEC play, two conference championships, a 3-2 bowl record and the 2003 BCS championship.
After a two-year stint in the NFL with the Miami Dolphins, Saban returned to the college ranks to take over at Alabama. Across his 17 seasons in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Saban built the Crimson Tide program to be the college football powerhouse and the preeminent program in the sport, as highlighted by his six national championships.
Saban’s seven national championships are the most ever in the history of college football, with his first title, of course, coming in 2003 when he was at LSU. His 201 wins at Alabama rank second all-time in program history, behind only Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant.
As noted by Davis on ‘College GameDay,’ the full College Football Hall of Fame Class of 2025 will be announced later next week.
College Football Hall of Fame 2025 ballot
Saban’s induction to the College Football Hall of Fame comes as a first-time ballot member. Other notable names on the ballot for the 2025 class include Urban Meyer, former coach at Utah, Florida and Ohio State; Pitt defensive lineman Aaron Donald; Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o; and Alabama running back Mark Ingram II.
Click here to view the full list of candidates (both coaches and players) that were named to the College Football Hall of Fame ballot this year.