Shaun Alexander thinks Steve Sarkisian, Lane Kiffin could coach Alabama when Nick Saban retires

Shaun Alexander does not think Nick Saban will retire from coaching any time soon.

Nick Saban is coming off his sixth national championship as the Alabama football head coach, and Crimson Tide legend Shaun Alexander could not be happier about it.

Though Alexander never won a national title during his illustrious college career, the former 2005 NFL MVP running back with the Seattle Seahawks keeps close tabs on his beloved alma mater. While he does understand that Saban, 69, will not be leading the Crimson Tide into Bryant-Denny Stadium on fall Saturdays forever, he does not expect Saban to call it a career until he is 75.

Shaun Alexander doesn’t think Nick Saban will retire anytime soon

“Gosh, I’ve been thinking about it for a while,” said Alexander to FanSided on behalf of The FedEx Air & Ground Player of the Year Awards. “And I feel like if 75 is a good number. I know we need to plan for maybe one or two more. I’d love for him to get these next two years really good because we’re kind of planning for that.”

“What I would love because when I was a player, Dabo Swinney was our wide receivers coach. There is just a far chance of him to ever come down. Like five years ago, we had a shot, but him winning two national championships with them over that time has made it a lot harder. But I would have loved for Clemson to go through a really tough patch.”

“He would almost have to see that the recruiting isn’t working the way he’s done it. Other than that, I would not be surprised with any of the old assistants coming back, whether it’s [Steve Sarkisian], whether it’s Lane [Kiffin]. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was any of them.”

Saban’s coaching tree is a robust one. While guys like Steve Sarkisian and Lane Kiffin have recently taken over major Power 5 jobs at Texas and Ole Miss, respectively, no Saban disciple has ever beaten his mentor. While Alexander would not be surprised if any Saban disciple is his heir apparent, there is one former protege he does not anticipate ever coming back to Tuscaloosa.

“The only one I would say is not going to come back would be Kirby [Smart] because Georgia was his alma mater. Everybody else knows what they are going to get. They know the time they are going to get, they know they gotta come in and be them and bring their personality. We know the kind of guy that it takes to lead our school and lead our football program.”

“It’s very exciting to know that you’re going to get these five-star athletes that are going to be willing to do everything they can to go be great and listen because they’re going to trust you. That is a very hard thing to pass up.”

“That you are basically giving yourself the opportunity to pass up at least four or five amazing years at the university. And if you’re good, then we want you there for a decade. So I think we’re going to have a good time picking who’s going to be the next coach.”

This will give the Crimson Tide enough of a runway to orchestrate a potential high-quality succession plan. Simply put, Alabama will not let the dynasty deteriorate immediately upon Saban’s eventual retirement.

Ultimately, Saban seems like he is having too much fun coaching Alabama to hang up the headset.

Shaun Alexander spoke with FanSided on behalf of The FedEx Air & Ground Player of the Year Awards. Voting is open now and will close on Tuesday, Feb. 2 at 3.00 p.m. ET. Fans can vote for FedEx Air & Ground NFL Player of the Year nominees at NFL.com/FedEx, on Twitter via the @NFL published polls or on the NFL Mobile App.

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