“Biggest Mistake I Ever Made”: Nick Saban Recalls His 2005 Departure from LSU to the Miami Dolphins

Nick Saban is widely considered to be the greatest college football coach of all time. He won seven national championships, the most of any head coach in the sport’s history. Six of those titles came during his 17 years in Alabama. The seventh – but first of his career – came in LSU. Despite this differential, Saban regrets leaving Baton Rouge.

Saban’s admission came on The Pivot podcast. Ryan Clark, who played for Saban with the Tigers from 2000-01, asked him if there was anything he “wished he had done differently” throughout his coaching life. Saban immediately recalled his 2005 departure from LSU for the Miami Dolphins. He claimed the move helped him finally discover his true coaching passion, though.

“Sometimes you have to learn about yourself… when I left LSU, that was probably, professionally, the biggest mistake that I ever made. Not because we didn’t have success in Miami, cause I enjoyed coaching in Miami. But I found out in that experience that I like coaching in college better… even though I loved the status of coaching in pro football.”

This epiphany led him back to the NCAA ranks, where he replicated and surpassed the gold standard of Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant at the same institution.

Nick Saban means “no disrespect to Alabama” with LSU comments

Once Saban recognized college football was his true calling, it was too late for him to return to LSU. The Tigers had already moved on with Les Miles. He ultimately took the Crimson Tide job and matched Bryant’s six championships in their colors.

Had he never left LSU in the first place, he may never have wound up in Alabama. According to Saban, his agent – Jimmy Sexton – did all he could to keep him in Baton Rouge. Saban acknowledged he essentially ignored Sexton’s logic when deciding to join the NFL.

“No disrespect to Alabama, it’s not Alabama versus LSU… Jimmy Sexton stood on the balcony when I was getting ready to leave… and he says, ‘what do you want your legacy to be as a coach? Do you want to be Vince Lombardi or… Bear Bryant?’ And without hesitation, I said ‘Bear Bryant.’ And he said, ‘what are you doing going to Miami then?’… and I went anyway.”

As we know, Saban eventually made good on his claim. LSU won the 2007 and 2019 championships with Miles and Ed Orgeron, so they’ve not been irrelevant post-Saban. However, what the Tigers could have been and what the Crimson Tide would have been if Saban never leapt to the professional level will always be one of the biggest ‘what if?’ questions in college football history.