Alabama head coach Nick Savan left the field on Tuesday, January 12, 2021 after a victory over Ohio State in the NCAA College Football Playoffs National Championship Game held in Miami Gardens, Florida. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, file)
Wheeling – National record-breaking college football coach Nick Saban will be inducted into the West Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.
Born in Fairmont and a graduate of Mononga High School and Kent State University, Saban will be enshrined by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association at the 78th Annual Winning Awards Dinner held at Bridgeport Conference Center on May 4th .
“Nick Saban is not only one of the greatest college football coaches in history, but also one of the state’s top sports ambassadors,” said Doug Huff, secretary finance officer at WVSWA.
Digital plachists with photos of past members since 1950 can be found at wvswa.org.
Saban retired from coaching in 2024, earning an unparalleled record with other states and a list of the best achievements he has coached college football. The first State Hall of Fame class in 1950 included Fielding Yost, a native of Savan’s Home Marion County Fairview, who won six national titles in Michigan. The 1991 State Hall of Fame class included John McKay, a native of nearby Everettsville and Singston High School, winning four national crowns at USC.
A 28-season head coach, Saban won the most titles in FBS history, the unprecedented seven national championships. He is the only coach in history to win national titles at two different FBS schools since the start of the AP voting in 1936. He is the only head coach of his days as a BCS and CFP in multiple national championship seasons.
He retired with a career record of 292-71-1-1 (80.4%), won as an active leader in the NCAA, and ranked sixth in history among FBS coaches.
During his 17 seasons in Alabama (2000-23), Saban built the most dominant dynasty in the modern college football era, leading the tide to nine BCS/CFP title games while winning six crowns. Ta. He compiled the overall tide mark for 201-29 (87.4%), and spent 15 consecutive seasons with the No.1 AP ranking and 9-second title. He led Alabama to 17 bowl appearances with 17 postseason records. He has won 26 games since 2015-16, making it 11-1 in the SEC title game at both Alabama and LSU. He coached 12 conference title teams, 25 bowl teams and was named the SEC Coach of the Year five times. His SEC record was 161-33 (82.9%).
He had no record of losing and overall he claimed more than 20 Coach of the Year admiration, including Eddie Robinson National Coach of the Year twice (2003, 2008). .
His unparalleled ability to develop talent has become 66 first team nationals, including four Heisman Trophy winners. He coached 136 NFL draft picks for “Bama” and won the most first round draft pick of 52 careers.
Savan’s head coaching tenure began in Toledo (1990), where he advanced to 9-2, earning the share of the Central American Conference title in a lonely season. From 1995-99, he led Michigan to a 34-24-1 record and four bowl teams in five years, with the 1999 Spartans finishing with a final seventh place ranking.
In coaching at LSU from 2000 to 2004, he published a 48-16 overall mark and won his first national title since 1958 in 2003.
BCS National Championship in Oklahoma. He also led LSU to two SEC crowns, a 4-1 postseason bowl mark and four top 25 final rankings.
He also coached the Miami Dolphins head coach (2005-06) and the Cleveland Browns assistant coach (1991-94) and the Houston Oilers (1988-89) in the National Football League. His university assistant coach stops include Michigan (1983-87), Navy (1982), Ohio (1980-81), West Virginia (1978-79), Syracuse (1977), and his alma mater, Kent ( 1975-76) included. I’ve been a graduate school assistant for two years.
Three Years of Kent Safety Letterman (1970-72), he won both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree. At Mononga High School, he was a three-sport All-star as a football quarterback defensive back, basketball point guard and baseball shortstop.
The retired coach, now a Gameday analyst at ESPN College, has been praised in Alabama and honored on the field at Bryant Denny Stadium. He is also one of the College Football Hall of Fame enrolled on December 9th.
Saban’s charities include Nick’s Kids Foundation, which distributes more than $13 million to more than 150 charities, beyond football. He said 22 homes were for humanity after a tornado attacked Tuscaloosa and made multiple $1 million donations to support the first generation scholarship, the Alabama Athletics and the St. Francis Catholic Church. He helped rebuild at Habitat for Humanity. His latest venture, Sabang Centre, features Stem Discovery Center, Alabama Stem Hub and Tuscaloosa Children’s Theatre.
