By Adeniyi Precious 
It was 4 p.m. on Jan. 10, 2024, when Nick Saban broke the news to his Alabama football team: he was retiring. By 4:06 p.m., ESPN’s Chris Low had tweeted it out, sending shockwaves through the Crimson Tide fanbase.
The tweet was simple but gut-wrenching: “Nick Saban is retiring, sources tell ESPN. He won six national titles at Alabama.” Just 14 words to mark the end of an era.
From Tuscaloosa to Manhattan, Alabama fans vividly remember where they were and how they reacted.
Seth Wright, a bartender at Druid City Brewing Company in Tuscaloosa, was at work when the news popped up on TV. Even though he had been expecting it, seeing it hit him hard. “Every person who came in was talking about who’s next and what this means for the program,” Wright said. “I heard so many wild theories that night.”
Meanwhile, Lacey Cencula, who had just moved to New York after 29 years in Alabama, saw an ESPN graphic on her walk. She rushed home to follow the coverage but had a first date scheduled. “How do I even explain this to someone not from Alabama?” she wondered. The date went fine, but no lasting sparks—unlike the drama back home.
Back in Tuscaloosa, Jarrod Worley was letting his dogs out when he saw the news on his phone. “Immediate panic,” he said. He sent the tweet to everyone he knew. Luckily, it broke after school hours—otherwise, he joked, “I would’ve had to stop class. Like, ‘OK, kids, Nick Saban just retired. Let me process this.’”
Others weren’t so lucky. JD Young, a real estate agent in Tennessee, got an ESPN notification at work, followed by texts, calls, and co-workers storming his office. For Jackson Starling in Florida, the news ruined his day. Even his wife—who doesn’t care about football—had a glass of Scotch waiting for him when he got home.
But Patton Smith, a creative director in Georgia, took it hardest. When he read the news, he broke down crying. His wife, a Virginia Tech fan, was baffled. “She’s like, ‘Who is this lunatic I married?’” Smith said. “It felt like my dog died.”
As a Tuscaloosa native who grew up hearing the cheers from Bryant-Denny Stadium, Smith felt the loss deeply. He had witnessed Saban’s dominance firsthand, attending 10 championship games during the coach’s 17-year reign.
“It was the most epic run ever,” he said. “Yeah, I cried like my dog had died. That’s my legacy.”
And just like that, the Saban era ended—but it’ll live on forever in the hearts (and group texts) of Alabama fans.
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