"That was our fault as coaches": Nick Saban breaks silence on the 4th down decision that cost them Rose Bowl and CFP National Championship spot

While Nick Saban has won a record seven national championships as a head coach, he remains in search of his eighth after the Alabama Crimson Tide were eliminated from the College Football Playoff with a 27-20 overtime loss to the Michigan Wolverines in the Rose Bowl.

The legendary coach recently took the blame for the fourth down overtime decision that ended their season.

During a recent appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, Saban stated:

"I did kind of anticipate that they would call timeout. The first time that we went out, we had the look that we wanted to run the play that we wanted to run. They called timeout. We changed what we were going to do the second time we went out. We changed personnel groups and we changed the formation and we didn't like the look that we got so we called timeout, but you only get one timeout in college in overtime for each overtime session."

Saban continued:

"The third time we go out, we changed personnel again and I didn't like the look that we got. We couldn't call timeout. We should've looked the play - when I say look the play, lineup in a formation, see what they're in, and have a second thing that you can go to - and we didn't do that. That was our fault as coaches."

The Crimson Tide wound up running a quarterback draw, which was quickly blown up by the Wolverines defense. Michigan will now face the Washington Huskies in the College Football Playoff National Championship, while Alabama's season came to an unceremonious end.

Terrion Arnold shoots down Nick Saban retirement rumors

Retirement rumors have surrounded Nick Saban, who is 72 years old, over the past several seasons. Alabama Crimson Tide defensive back Terrion Arnold is not buying those rumors, suggesting that Saban will never retire.

Speaking to Pat Smith and Landrum Roberts during a recent appearance on the 3 Man Front podcast, Arnold was asked if he thought 2023 could be Saban's final season leading the program, responding:

"Man, I wouldn't even try to hype myself up and make myself believe something like that. Coach Saban ain't going nowhere. He's gonna die coaching. That's borderline, like he always says he'll stop coaching when he becomes a liability to it and I don't think he'll be a liability to coaching until he's gone."

Check out Terrion Arnold's comments on Nick Saban below (starting at the 11:30 mark):

Saban previously shut down retirement rumors, noting that he remains all-in on the program. He has spent 28 seasons coaching at the collegiate level, with 17 of those coming leading the Crimson Tide.