How generations in Tuscaloosa will benefit from Nick and Terry Saban's legacy

If the Druid City created a Mount Rushmore, two of the faces carved there would be those of Nick and Terry Saban, said Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox.

More: 'A remarkable man': Nick Saban's success on field benefits city, region of Tuscaloosa

Maddox spoke in City Council chambers Thursday about his mixed feelings following Wednesday's announcement Nick Saban would be retiring from Crimson Tide football's head coaching job, after 17 seasons. There's a sadness, he said, but also immense thankfulness for what the Saban dynasty has brought to Tuscaloosa, how the Sabans have helped shape the community, far beyond Bryant-Denny Stadium.

"Their success has created ripples of success," he said. "And by the way, it doesn't end. It didn't end yesterday."

Coach Saban's phenomenal multi-championship run at the University of Alabama elevated Tuscaloosa's profile not just on sports pages, but in the mainstream press, Maddox said. The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, CBS, USA Today and other major outlets covered his retirement as front-page-worthy news. Saban's "process" ― essentially treating each moment as its own task to be achieved, rather than anticipate outcomes — and recruitment power didn't stop at students; the Tide's renown has helped the city attract business and other developments.

"When we're recruiting industries, whether it's in western Europe or across this nation, when you say Tuscaloosa people immediately ... make the connection. That is an advantage when you're a city of 100,000 people," Maddox said.

"His success, the team's success, gave us the ability to punch above our weight class. That is phenomenal."

Growth was a central focus for Robert Witt, UA president from 2003-2012, and chancellor of the UA system from 2012-2016. Witt worked to raise the Capstone's enrollment numbers and student quality, and launched an ambitious construction program to update and expand the campus' physical footprint.

With then-athletic director Mal Moore, Witt recognized the need to spend time, effort and dollars to lure Saban from his head coaching post with the NFL's Miami Dolphins. Though some criticized the paychecks, upwards of $5 million in early years, Witt said often, including on CBS' "60 Minutes," that Saban was the best investment UA ever made.

"These two gentlemen made a risky hire; and it was a big risk. And 17 years later, Tuscaloosa is a different place," Maddox said, "a totally transformed place, from downtown to the river front, at the University; the number of jobs, the amount of population...." Tuscaloosa's 2010 census counted 90,468; the 2022 estimate of the city's population is 110,682.

The Sabans choosing not just to work but live in Tuscaloosa has been a huge part of that transformation, the mayor said. That can be seen directly on the ever-growing campus, and indirectly from heightened economic impact.

The 2022 Tuscaloosa County tourism numbers showed $895 million spent by visitors, a jump of almost 20% over 2021. Studies have estimated each UA home game brings in $25 million or more now, figures from a decade or more back were closer to $15 or $17 million. UA figures for 2019-2020, latest available, indicate a season Crimson Tide football impact of $185.9 million, or about $26.6 million per fall weekend.

Anyone who has followed the Sabans knows their marriage is a team effort. While his face was seen on camera, on ESPN, SEC or other networks, at news conferences, pre- or post-game interviews and lately, AFLAC commercials, Miss Terry, as she's known, spearheaded Nick's Kids Foundation and served as the visual and vocal leader on other charitable efforts, including the upcoming multimillion-dollar Saban Center.

The Saban Center, a STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) resource, with hands-on and other exhibits, performance spaces and more, just launched its public “Set The Foundation” capital campaign. The center has already drawn major partners in Alabama Power Foundation, Coca-Cola Bottling Co. United, Mercedes-Benz, Parker Towing, the University of Alabama and the Alabama state department of education.

"The Saban Center, which will break ground on construction by the end of this year, is going to spend the next 30, 40, 50 years transforming West Alabama," Maddox said, "in terms of getting our students and teachers ready to be ahead of the curve, when it comes to STEM. That speaks to the legacy of (the Sabans') commitment to this community, and to our city."

More: A champion of giving: Terry Saban drives family's charitable efforts in Tuscaloosa

It's well-known Miss Terry, while she leaves coaching specifics to her husband, helps motivate and guide. A teacher in early years while his coaching career evolved, she meets prospective new hires, and helps make students feel welcomed, at home. Testament to the Sabans' emphasis on the student in student-athlete, UA has improved its football GSR (graduation success rate) to 93, second only in the SEC to Vanderbilt's 95.

Speaking of her unpaid efforts, Nick Saban said, in an interview with Tide Illustrated, that it's not unlike a traditional family: “I’m the guy that’s always trying to get them to do right, and she’s the mom who’s always trying to make them happy. That’s the way it’s been for a long time.”

Much as the gridiron legacy of Paul W. "Bear" Bryant spread far beyond his head football coaching career, so will the Sabans' impact on Tuscaloosa, Maddox said.

They long ago checked the box marked "philanthropy," he said, but have risen above and beyond in ways rarely publicized, as when they aided recovery efforts following the April 27, 2011, tornado. The Sabans went hands-on for their adopted hometown, showing up unannounced at volunteer and relief centers, spending hours with a Louisiana search-and-rescue team in its crawfish boil tailgate, sharing concern and hope with those hardest hit.

"When people who had lost their homes got a hug from Coach Saban, and Miss Terry, their whole perspectives changed," Maddox said. "No one had asked them, by the way. That's just who they are."

The Sabans have not only shown up to help build 19 Habitat for Humanity houses, but brought along players, coaches' wives and others to wield hammers. Meanwhile, they're also writing checks, often through Nick's Kids, which has distributed more than $11 million to hundreds of causes and organizations. Locally, those include career tech classrooms at the Tuscaloosa County Juvenile Detention Center, the Tuscaloosa Riverwalk Playground, the STTEP (short-term treatment and evaluation) Building of Brewer Porch Children’s Center, the Alberta School of Performing Arts playground, Tuscaloosa All-Inclusive Playground and the YMCA of Tuscaloosa.

Both Nick and Terry Saban were first-generation college graduates in their families, Maddox said, so they understand the importance of access to education for all. The Saban Center will not only become a boon to hundreds of thousands of students and teachers, but will shape the future of the city and state, as STEM opportunities advance with the geometric progression of technology.

So the Saban name will live on regardless of where Nick and Terry physically spend retirement years. In their discussions, Maddox said, the emphasis from the Sabans has always been on the elite status of the center, a championship standard.

"Because ultimately, people will return not because it's named after the Saban family," he said. "They will return because the experience was elite."

The mayor hadn't spoken to the Sabans since the announcement, but felt their connections here would remain deep and steadfast.

"In my book, they will always be citizens of Tuscaloosa," Maddox said. "And hopefully they will always feel like this is home."

Reach Mark Hughes Cobb at mark.cobb@tuscaloosanews.com.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Mayor: Generations will benefit from Nick and Terry Saban's legacy