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Nick Saban

Alabama’s Nick Saban wins first national coaching honor since 2016

© John David Mercer - USA TODAY Sports

He went through a championship season in 2017 without a bunch of linebackers and was forced to switch quarterbacks in the second half of the College Football Playoff title game; however, Nick Saban managed it all and was not awarded a national coaching honor.  

After reshuffling his deck of assistant coaches, he returned this season with Alabama having the nation’s second-highest scoring offense (47.9 ppg) while carrying a nasty group defensively (14.8 ppg allowed).

Saban won his sixth Southeastern Conference title in defeating Georgia, 35-28, and has earned his fifth consecutive trip to the CFP as the No. 1 overall seed. 

His recent coaching awards came in 2016 – SEC and George Munger Coach of the Year – nevertheless, national press could not deny him this year. According to the Walter Camp Football Foundation, the organization named Saban as its National Coach of the Year on Thursday. 

It is the second time he’s earned the honor.

He won the award in 2008; his second season with a team that finished at 12-2. Saban has mentored a pair of unanimous All-Americans (Jonah Williams, Quinnen Williams), three consensus All-Americans (Tua Tagovailoa, Jerry Jeudy, Deionte Thompson), an Outland Trophy winner (Quinnen Williams), a Fred Biletnikoff Award winner (Jeudy) and a Heisman Trophy finalist in Tagovailoa for 2018. 

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He has also reclaimed his title as the best recruiter in the country, as Alabama carries the top-ranked signing class for 2019. Of its 23 student-athletes that signed on Wednesday, the Tide has three five-stars, 19 four-stars and one three-star. Twenty of the program’s added players from the early signing period hail from the ESPN 300 recruiting data base, with Pierce Quick (four-star, OL) being the No. 4 prospect on the board.

Saban now prepares himself for his seventh national title run and sixth at Alabama.

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Stephen M. Smith is the managing editor and senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine.  You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith.

Stephen Smith is a 2015 graduate of the University of Alabama. He is a senior writer and reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. He has covered Alabama football for 15 years and his knowledge and coverage of the Crimson Tide's program have made him among the most respected journalist in his field. Smith has been featured on ESPN and several other marquee outlets as an analyst.

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