When Tom Izzo spoke on Nick Saban's "remarkable" career following Alabama HC's retirement

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo has been at the helm of the Spartans for 30 years, winning one national championship. He is the longest-tenured coach in the Big Ten Conference.

Izzo's time as Spartans coach coincided with the legendary Nick Saban, who was appointed the football coach the same year as he was. While Saban departed for Baton Rouge to coach the LSU Tigers in 1999, Izzo stayed on in Michigan.

During an interview with the Associated Press in Jan. 2024, after Saban's retirement after a 17-year stint as Alabama's coach, Izzo lavished praise on the former Crimson Tide coach.

"I think he’s the greatest coach in the history of football," Izzo said. "There are a lot of great coaches, but what he’s done and the consistency that he did it in an era where so many people and things are coming at you is remarkable.”

Nick Saban had a 34-24-1 record during his five-year tenure as coach of the Spartans before taking the LSU job in 2000.

How Nick Saban helped Tom Izzo toughen his team

During a March segment of the "Pat McAfee Show," Tom Izzo revealed how Nick Saban helped him to toughen his team up after one of his famously physical teams lost a rebounding battle to the Ohio State Buckeyes.

"In 2000 or 2001, when we won the national championship, we went to three Final Fours and we went to Ohio State and we lost the rebound battle for the first time in about 18 games," Izzo said (0:15).

"I got back and then told my equipment manager, 'call Saban and tell him I need 12 sets of gear at practice tomorrow. We're gonna play this war game,' it's a rebounding drill."

Izzo detailed how he used Saban's pads to design a tough drill for his players, which helped to toughen them up.

“We had practice, I was mad, I brought out the pads,” Izzo said. “All the players, the 6'9 guys are wondering ‘what the hell is a pad?‘ Boom. We hit each other. Whoever gets the ball, gets the ball. And it was all on hardwood. It was a football team on hardwood. We beat the hell out of each other and nobody got hurt. If I did that today, I’d probably get sued.”

While Nick Saban has become a fan-favorite on ESPN's "College GameDay" after his retirement, Tom Izzo has soldiered on as the coach of Michigan State, leading the Spartans to eight Final Fours, 11 regular-season Big Ten and six Big Ten Tournament titles in his tenure.