The college football season came to a close earlier this week when the Michigan football team defeated Washington to win the national title. One week before that game, Michigan and Alabama football battled things out in the Rose Bowl College Football Semifinal for a spot in the national title game. It was another fantastic edition of the bowl game with the richest history, and the Wolverines squeaked out an overtime victory against the Crimson Tide. What we didn't know at the time, however, was that it would be the last game that Alabama head coach Nick Saban would coach. News broke on Wednesday that the college football legend was retiring, and now, the Crimson Tide are in need of a new head coach.

First of all, even though Alabama didn't win the national title this season, this might've been the most impressive coaching job that Nick Saban has ever had. If you're a fan of the Crimson Tide, you might disagree because of all the national championship seasons that Saban had in his time with the program, but what he was able to do with this group and the turnaround that the team had was extremely impressive.

When Alabama lost to Texas football by double digits at home early in the season and then had to bench quarterback Jalen Milroe the following week at USF, everyone wrote the Crimson Tide off. They simply didn't look like a Nick Saban coached team, and they seemed destined to lose another game. They surely didn't look like a team that could knock off the two-time defending national champion Georgia Bulldogs. However, they just kept winning. The Crimson Tide took care of business week in and week out, and they eventually found themselves hoisting the SEC title trophy after knocking off the two-time defending national champion Georgia Bulldogs. That earned Alabama a spot in the College Football Playoff.

Obviously, the playoff didn't go as planned for Saban and Alabama as they fell in the Rose Bowl to Michigan, and the standard and expectation in Tuscaloosa is to win a national championship. However, if you're a Crimson Tide fan, take a step back for a minute. No matter what happens in your CFP semifinal game, it is very hard to be one of the only four teams to make the College Football Playoff. There's a reason why final fours are celebrated the way they are in college basketball. In college football, you can't lose more than one game, and sometimes even if you do lose one, your season is over. Think of all the fans that would be thrilled to have their team make the CFP just once even if it means they get blown out in the semifinal. You can't win em' all, and Alabama didn't win this year, but getting to the playoff is always something to be proud of, and Nick Saban had one of his most impressive appearances in his final season of coaching the game.

Now we are into the offseason in college football, and there were a lot of potential coaching changes that everyone had their eye on, but this was not one of them. Saban is arguably the best coach to ever do it in college football, and now Alabama has to find someone else. Good luck to whoever gets this job. You have some massive shoes to fill.

The initial names for potential replacements include a lot of Saban's assistants that now have other big head coaching jobs, and there are some other coaches from big schools mixed in as well. It doesn't sound like Alabama is going to go with an internal hire, and that seems like a good call. There isn't anyone on the staff right now that is ready to step into this massive role. Some potential replacements that have been floating around are Steve Sarkisian, James Franklin, Kalen DeBoer, Dan Lanning, Lane Kiffin, and more. Those coaches have all been successful at their current schools, but one of them seems to make a lot of sense.

Steve Sarkisian

Steve Sarkisian would be a good hire for Alabama football. The reason for this is because Sarkisian recently had a big role on the Alabama coaching staff. Before he took over as the head coach at Texas, Sarkisian was the offensive coordinator for the Crimson Tide. The recency of his position and the role he had are extremely important, and they are both big reasons why he would be a good hire for this job.

First of all, it's important to note that Sarkisian won a national title with Saban and Alabama in 2020. That game was just over three years ago. Obviously, college football is changing every year, but he saw firsthand what Saban did in this era of college football to win a national title, and as the offensive coordinator, Sarkisian was a big part of that job. That entire experience and the recency of it is crucial, and because of that, he would be a good fit for the job.

Also, the fact that he was the offensive coordinator is extremely important. It's not like Sarkisian was on the staff as an analyst for one year, he was one of the major coaches on the team and he worked very closely with Saban. He learned how to be a successful head coach from Saban. He saw exactly how he coached an Alabama football team to a national title up close. That experience is crucial in terms of landing this job.

Lastly, Sarkisian has now proven himself to be a winner elsewhere. It had been a long time since Texas football was relevant, and this season, Sarkisian led them to a Big 12 title and a College Football Playoff appearance. The Longhorns lost in the Sugar Bowl against Washington, but his team was one play away from competing for a national title. Sarkisian has done a good job with Texas, and if he went back to Alabama, he would be inheriting a gold mine from Saban. Sarkisian has the right experience for this job, and he has the ability to come in and keep the dynasty that Saban built in Tuscaloosa alive.

Nick Saban retiring from Alabama football was not expected by the college football world, but it instantly has become the biggest story in the sport's offseason. It's going to be very interesting to see who gets this job, and like I said before, good luck to whoever it is.