Under Alabama head coach Nick Saban, the Crimson Tide has sustained dynasty-level success that defines the modern era.

Since he took the reins of the program in 2007, Alabama has posted a 184-25 record. In each of the last 14 seasons, Saban’s squad has reached the double-digit win mark, spent at least one week ranked as the No. 1 team in the country and finished with a top 10 postseason ranking. Defeating the Longhorns on Saturday would give Saban his 270th NCAA-recognized career win as a head coach, which is the 18th most of all time.

The Alabama head coach also has a serious amount of hardware. Saban has collected six national championships with the Crimson Tide: 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017 and 2020. Prior to Alabama, Saban earned a national championship with LSU in 2003.

Saban’s legacy as a head coach partly stems from his ability to replace huge chunks of his coaching staff nearly every year. Other college athletic directors recognize Saban’s brilliance and consistently turn to his coaching staff when looking for their next coaches. Current Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian is one such coach.

After a stint as offensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons, Sarkisian spent two years as the offensive coordinator for Alabama. After the Crimson Tide won the 2020 national championship, Texas tabbed Sarkisian as the guy who would replace former head coach Tom Herman.

“It was an awesome experience,” Sarkisian said on Thursday. “I got to work with some great players and got to work with some great people. I learned a lot and ultimately now I’m here (at Texas).”

While theoretically spending time on the same coaching staff with Saban should give Sarkisian a better chance at pulling the upset on Saturday, history tells us the opposite. Former Saban assistants have just two wins against their former boss when facing off as head coaches.

Saban’s success against former coaches may come from his determination to not overcomplicate things for his team. While many coaches would try to switch up strategies when facing opposing head coaches who know how he operates, Saban sticks to what he knows his team is used to, the coach said during a media availability on Monday.

“Just because someone knows you when they play doesn’t mean they’re going to beat you, and just because you know them doesn’t mean you’ll beat them either,” Saban said. “It kind of comes down to how you execute.”

Regardless of how Saban performs against his former offensive coordinator on Saturday, the head coach’s legacy is sealed as one of the greatest to ever coach college football. Nevertheless, putting together an impressive outing against Texas and holding onto his team’s No. 1 ranking would keep Alabama right on track for Saban’s seventh title in Tuscaloosa.

Saban is particularly looking for his team to have improved from last week’s 55-0 win against Utah State when it takes the field at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium. 

“The measure of a team is what is your growth from week one to week two,” Saban said. “Even though you had a pretty good start, can you build on that and make progress for the future because we’re going to need to do that playing against a really good opponent this weekend.”