After spending 17 seasons with Alabama, Nick Saban’s retirement wasn’t surprising for anyone. In the end, he just didn’t want to deal with the changing college football landscape anymore. SEC championships, national championships—Nick Saban won everything for the Tide. The legacy? Well, the current crop of head coaches in CFB is one component of Saban’s mark on the sport. Lane Kiffin, Steve Sarkisian, Kirby Smart—you name it—and that coach will probably have a connection with Saban. However, the former Bama head coach took pride in another thing. Developing players and helping them realize their NFL future. Every year, it all started for him on the recruiting trail.

Hours, days, months—traversing every corner of the country, meeting high school talents that would like to play for Alabama. Nick Saban’s personalized touch in recruiting and his history of producing NFL draft picks—everything worked for the Tide, and the program produced top classes every year. In total, 133 players were drafted to the NFL under Nick Saban’s watch. 47 first-round picks. One No. 1 pick in Bryce Young in 2023. However, after his watch ended, Kalen DeBoer took on the mantle of continuing Saban’s legendary recruiting legacy. That doesn’t mean the former HC doesn’t have any role to play in future recruiting. Recently, he was spotted in his Bryant-Denny Stadium office, meeting 5-star EDGE Anthony Jones.

One of Alabama’s top-rated recruiting targets took to his Instagram story to post about meeting the former head coach and was quite ecstatic about the same. It’s not always that you get to meet someone like Saban. This also speaks volumes about Saban’s dedication to Alabama. Even after his retirement, he mentioned remaining helpful towards the program. But to see him making it happen is just wonderful.

Meanwhile, Jones is in his senior season at St. Paul’s Episcopal High School in Mobile and is one of the top-rated players in the State of Alabama. He is a five-star linebacker and has many schools lined up for the class of 2026, including Alabama, Auburn, Texas A&M, Oregon, Miami, and LSU.

Jones, during his official visit to Alabama, said, “I’ve been on the phone with them like every week.” “I have been building a great relationship with coach (Kalen) DeBoer and coach (Christian) Robinson. They just talk about how they can use me in different places like Bandit and WOLF. It’s just been good.” With many offers in hand, the five-star linebacker is yet to decide on which college he wants to join. Meeting Nick Saban will probably helm the program get the commitment from their target.

While all the focus is on Nick Saban, his wife, Terry Saban, is grabbing the headlines as well for her social work. The fans spotted her at a ribbon-cutting event at the new Nick’s Kids playground in Northport’s Civitan Park on Friday morning. Miss Terry often engages in social activities at Nick’s Kids Foundation. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that the husband-wife duo is giving it all to society.

Nick Saban turns fan-favorite after meeting 5-star EDGE Anthony ‘Tank’ Jones

Former head coach Nick Saban has been a fan favorite forever. “Wowwwww so this is why Deboer is getting recruits. Cause Nick Saban is still in the game,” wrote one fan. DeBoer’s first season as head coach ended up with a 9-4 record, but backlash from fans will remain a constant until he proves them all wrong. Meanwhile, another fan wrote, “Hopefully he closed the deal.” The five-star linebacker is yet to join a team, but his recent visit to Alabama might turn into something positive.

DeBoer has a lot to learn from Saban in his tenure, and having him around to guide him will only help in the process. Surprisingly, some fans agree to it. “Nick saban is to deboer what obama was during bidens term,” wrote one fan. Saban, on his part, didn’t go hard on the first-year Bama HC last year in his new role as a broadcaster for College Game Day. He was complimentary when the Tide won and didn’t use harsh words when Bama lost.

However, the replacement of someone like Saban in the fans’ hearts is pretty difficult at the moment. The legendary head coach has many accolades under his name, and hence, the fans will be hoping for DeBoer to soak in as much as he can from Saban. A fan wrote, “We’re truly forever in debt to this man.” Why wouldn’t they be? The program saw the best days in its history under Saban.