Nick Saban healthy, mental grind became unsustainable with age

(Photo credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports)
Health issues were not a factor in Nick Saban retiring as head coach at Alabama.

"In hiring coaches and recruiting players, my age started to become an issue. People wanted assurances I'd be here ... three years, five years, and it became harder to be honest about it," Saban said Thursday in anESPN interview. "And to be honest, this last season was grueling. It was a real grind