Former Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban is called the GOAT for a reason. More than two years after he retired, ESPN immortalized Saban by giving him a place in their latest ranking. Not to forget, Saban has been a constant name over the past two decades when it came to coaching in college football.

On March 25, ESPN dropped a ranking titled "Top 20 ratings since 2006." In that list, Saban appeared four times for multiple seasons. It rated Saban's 2012 season with Alabama at a 32.4 rating, followed by 27.9 for the 2009 season, 27.5 for the 2011 season, and the 2013 season earned him a 27.4 rating.

Saban will certainly go down as one of the greatest to ever do it, holding seven Natty feathers in his hat. Out of the seven, six came during his Tuscaloosa stint and one at LSU. Overall, Saban holds a 297-71-1 career record (80.6%).

Bill Conelly of ESPN came up with a data-based evaluation behind Saban being one of the greatest coaches in college football history. The formula takes two factors into account. 60% is based on a team’s performance relative to its 20-year baseline, while 40% is based on raw SP+ rating (SP+ is intended to be a predictive and forward-facing model).

Under this formula, Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide received a rating of 32.4, which was the highest mark ever recorded before 2025. But after the 2025 season, there is another head coach who left Saban behind to secure the top spot.

After Indiana's 2025 Natty win, the Hoosiers, led by head coach Curt Cignetti, received a rating of 32.5. It was Indiana's first time getting a spot in the Top 20 rankings.

Cignetti led them to a 27-2 record, and last season, they went 16-0, winning the Big Ten Championship and the Natty.

Nick Saban's take on Curt Cignetti and Indiana's success

There is a connection between the two head coaches who now top the ESPN list. Cignetti crossed paths with Saban at Alabama from 2007 to 2010. While Saban stayed in Alabama, Cignetti travelled various courses and ultimately landed in Indiana. But both of them brought success to their respective programs.

The former Crimson Tide coach, Saban, has been in Cignetti’s shoes before. In 2007, when Saban took over at Alabama, they did not have a winning record for four straight seasons. Within two years, Saban transformed them into a powerhouse. Similarly, Indiana recorded the most losses by any team in the 156 years of college football and led them to Natty.

“He [Curt] has done a phenomenal job in Indiana. Everybody wanted to come to Indiana. People wanted to transfer there,” Saban said. "That’s how it was at Alabama. Then, when you win in 2009, and you climb the mountain successfully, you become the mountain.” 

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Written by

Samvruth Raj

Edited by

Soheli Tarafdar