PITTSBURGH — Like many around the country who saw the news, current Pittsburgh Steelers and former Alabama safety Minkah Fitzpatrick was stunned to see that his old head coach, one of the giants of the football world, Nick Saban, would retire. Fitzpatrick, who’s eying a return from injury to the Steelers lineup for this weekend’s playoff opener against the Buffalo Bills, had a suspicion that Saban would call it a career soon but still, his announcement came as a surprise. “I was shocked, man. That threw me off,” Fitzpatrick said. “I knew he had bought that house down in Florida last year so that was kind of a hint, I guess. But definitely threw me off.”
Fitzpatrick was a two-time All-American and nationla champion at Alabama and that was no accident with Saban at the helm. Saban coached his players hard but always because he knew what they were capable of. “He was a great coach,” he said. “He was hard on us, he was tough on us but it was because he knew where that was going to get us.” Saban’s been a pillar of college football for all of his 33 years as a head coach in the sport. He’s won six national titles, won 297 games (the ninth-most all-time), five SEC Coach of the Year Awards and national Coach of the Year honors in 2003, 2008, 2016 and 2020.
With the Crimson Tide set to move on to a new era, Fitzpatrick knows it will be strange seeing a different face barking orders on the sidelines, but he’s still optimistic about the direction of the program. “It’ll be weird. It’ll be weird,” Fitzpatrick said. “But I’m excited to see who they hire.” Make sure you bookmark All Steelers for the latest news, exclusive interviews, film breakdowns and so much more
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