Minkah Fitzpatrick ‘Shocked’ by Nick Saban’s Retirement

Pittsburgh Steelers defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick was once nicknamed “Coach Saban’s Son” for how closely he followed legendary head coach Nick Saban during his time at Alabama.

But even Fitzpatrick was caught off guard by Wednesday’s news that rocked the football landscape that Saban, 72, had retired as the Alabama head football coach.

“I was shocked,” Fitzpatrick said on Thursday. “That threw me off. I knew he bought that house down in Florida last year, so that was kind of a hint, I guess, but that threw me off.”

Saban gushed on Fitzpatrick as a player, saying the two connected because of Fitzpatrick’s combination of talent and intellectual curiosity for the game.

“He’s kind of a unique guy,” Saban said in 2018. “A lot of times talented guys don’t have overachieving personality types. He wants to be the best and goes out and works hard every day.

“He’s the exact model you love to have as a coach. The guy is very talented. He’s smart, bright, can learn. He really competed to be the absolute best at what he does. I don’t even know if I can describe him well enough.”

The mutual admiration was obvious when Fitzpatrick talked about his former coach.

“He’s a great coach,” Fitzpatrick said. “He was hard on us. He was tough on us. But that was because he knew what that was going to get us.”

Fitzpatrick said he doesn’t know who will replace his old ball coach, and didn’t have anyone that he wanted to put forward as a candidate, but he’ll be watching for sure.

“It’ll be weird (to not have him there),” he said. “I’m excited to see who they hire.”

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