On Wednesday afternoon, Alabama football head coach Nick Saban shocked the college football world when he announced his retirement from coaching following the Crimson Tide's loss in the Rose Bowl last week. Over the course of his time at Alabama, Saban helped the school bring home six national championships, bringing his personal career total to seven when considering the championship he won while coaching at LSU.

Now begins the highly important search for the next coach of Alabama, who will have some historic shoes to fill in the wake of Nick Saban's departure, and already, speculation has run rampant on who the school might select to guide their locker room. According to Pete Thamel, speaking on ESPN's Sportscenter in a video posted on X, Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne has used 72 hours for a general timeframe on when players and coaches can expect the announcement of the new hire, whoever it may be.

In recent years, the dynasty Saban built with Alabama football had begun to show some, albeit minimal, signs of cracking. The only national title Alabama has won since 2017 was in the COVID-affected 2020 season, and the Crimson Tide's defeat at the hands of Michigan football in this year's Rose Bowl opened up speculation on how long Saban might opt to stay with the program.

Now that the school has its answer on that front, one of the more intriguing coaching searches in recent college football history has commenced. Regardless of who the Crimson Tide select, it's safe to say they will have some GOAT-sized shoes to fill whenever they take over.