This past week was a huge week in the sports world, more bittersweet than not. There were multiple huge events that marked the end of eras for different franchises all over sports. Nick Saban retired as the head coach of Alabama Football. Head coach Bill Belichick parted ways with the New England Patriots. Head coach Pete Carroll departed from the Seattle Seahawks. Tiger Woods ended his 27-year contract with Nike.
Now, how will all this breaking news change sports for the coming years?
For some, people this may not seem like a huge deal or anything worth breaking the news. But for sports fans, it means everything. Nick Saban changed the entire camaraderie of college football. His huge emphasis on discipline goes back to some of football’s earliest ages, but his biggest accomplishment is the way he built up a masterclass program at Alabama. Multimillion dollar facilities and a year round focus set a standard for programs all across college football. He is the face of coaches in the college world, and him not being present at the head of Alabama football next season will take some getting used to. In his 26 seasons at Alabama, Saban compiled a monster 274-67-1 overall record, eight SEC Championships with 10 SEC titles to his name and most importantly, seven NCAA national championships. Saban is the image of relentless focus to lead a team to long term success and triumph of CFB.
On the other hand, similar to Saban, Belichick ran the course during his dynasty with the Patriots as head coach for 24 seasons. Generations of football fans knew the Patriots as champions with Belichick at the front. For the two decades he was running the franchise, the Super Bowl ran through New England at the hands of Tom Brady, whom Belichick developed to be the all-time quarterback he is known as. In his time as head coach, Belichick recorded a 266-121 record, 19 consecutive winning seasons, 17 AFC East division titles, nine Super Bowl appearances and six wins. He had a style of coaching to where he shaped the franchise for as long as he did and made it known to everyone watching from the Patriots opponents, fans, referees, and his own players. New England was always looked at as the team to beat with Belichick in charge and it was always with the “Patriot Way.” It will be very difficult for another coach to replicate the mannerisms and the way that Belichick coached the Patriots during their dynasty era.
To go along with the departures of Saban and Belichick from their known teams, Carroll parted ways with the Seahawks in the same few days. The news was absolutely swamped with football coaching news from college to the NFL. Along with both the college and professional football scenes, Caroll succeeded on both ends. He had an energeticspirit with the Seahawks that is hard to replicate, and it should be interesting to see how the new head coaching position works itself out. In over 14 seasons as head coach, Caroll had a 137-89-1 record, appeared in two Super Bowls and won one in 2013.
Switching gears from football, Woods is another major face in sports who had a huge part of his athletic career come to an end. Considered the greatest golfer of all time, his talents and contributions to the game are undeniable. He has been through multiple eras of the game and transformed into modern day. Nike built Wood’s image and the stigma about the way golfers present themselves on the course. He changed the entire style of the game with Nike representing him. The rise of golf came from the Nike attire in commercials and ads with Woods’ name. It changed the entire profile of the sport and put Woods on a pedestal on top of his legendary talent of the sport.
All of these iconic faces in sports parting ways with the franchises and brands they have been attached to for decades marks an end to an era of sports that is some of what all current fans know. It will definitely be an adjustment to fans to see someone else running the Crimson Tide on the sidelines other than Saban. It will additionally definitely be a change to have a New England Patriots team without both Belichick and Brady. All of these changes truly show the evolution of sports and how people involved come and go throughout generations. Eventually there is going to be a time where fans look back and see what the game used to be and it will be drastically different in the future. New faces of the team and new fan favorites. It’s all just a part of the game and it is truly an amazing thing to see how sports are linked to all different parts of life.