With the surpise retirment of head coach Nick Saban from Alabama football, questions surrounded the reason the all time great finally called it a career. The time was coming for Saban, who's 72 years old, but it seemed like a quick decision following a College Football Playoff loss to the Michigan Wolverines. ESPN analyst Rece Davis was as confused as everybody and got some inight from the man himself on why he decided now was the time to walk away.

“In hiring coaches and recruiting players, my age started to become an issue. People wanted assurances I’d be here, three years, five years, and it became harder to be honest about it. And to be honest, this last season was grueling. It was a real grind for us to come from where we started to where we got to. It took a little more out of me than usual. When people mentioned the health issue, it was really just the grind,” said Saban, per Stewart Mandel at The Athletic.

Saban assured that there were no health issues, but father time was starting to kick in. College football has become a 365 day a year job for everyone involved, especially for the head coach of a football program that held such high standards.

“There's no illness. Miss Terry's fine. I'm fine. It was, can you sustain the season from a mental grind standpoint?,” said Saban, per Nick Kelly at USA Today.

The Crimson Tide won't be the same without Saban as the primary leader, but a change of scenary for both parties could be beneficial. This was a situation that Alabama football has likely been preparing for and now the search is in full affect. It's probable that Saban won't walk away completely. He'll be in house to help Alabama figure out who his successor will be and the Tide will keep on moving.