Thursday evening, former Alabama head football coach Nick Saban received the Icon Award at the 2024 ESPYS. He was presented with the award by two of his former Heisman Trophy winners, Mark Ingram (2009) and Bryce Young (2021).
Saban joined the University of Alabama as head football coach in 2007 and led the Crimson Tide to six National Championships and 11 Southeastern Conference titles. Saban produced four Heisman Trophy winners: Derrick Henry, DeVonta Smith, Bryce Young, and Alabama’s first-ever Heisman Trophy winner, Mark Ingram II.
In January, Saban retired with a career record of 292-71-1, accumulating 201 of his wins at Alabama. While at Alabama, Saban developed 133 NFL draft picks, including 47 NFL first round draft picks during his 17-year career at Alabama.
The iconic coach accepted the award from his two former Heisman Trophy winners and immediately delivered a joke that complemented the success in his 17 years at Alabama.
“It’s an honor for me to have two of our former Heisman Trophy award winners to present this award to me (Mark Ingram and Bryce Young). I’m very thankful for the other players and former players who played for us that are here tonight, Saban said. “We have a good group of guys here... enough that we could actually have practice after this.”
After the laughter died down, Saban delivered his message as if he were the coach and the audience was his players. Preaching character and leadership to the audience, he thanked everyone who made the success he had possible.
“So, I can only accept this award on behalf of all the other folks that contributed to it— which there’s 1,000 of them. Every time I look at this, I’m gonna see the faces of all the people who worked so hard to help us be successful, and the relationships that were forged in those teams that made it so special. And it’ll also be the thing I miss most about coaching."
One thing that Saban prided himself on more than victories was developing players into young men. The source of this desire came from something that his dad told him when he was young and Saban shared his father’s quote with the audience before leaving the stage.
“But in college, I think the No. 1 thing any player should do is make sure he develops a career for when he can’t play. We had 668 degrees in 17 years at Alabama because of what these guys did and their commitment to developing a career off the field, which I’m very proud of. And the one thing my dad told me when I was a young kid in West Virginia that was the most important part of your character is have compassion for other people. People aren’t gonna remember what you say, they’re gonna remember how you made them feel."
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