Nick Saban Statue Adds 2020 to the Ring

The Nick Saban statue added the 2020 national championship to the ring of titles. Workers engraved  2020 on Saturday afternoon, almost four months after Alabama's victory over the Ohio State Buckeyes in the national championship.

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The Tide dominated the game from the start, as the three-headed monster of Najee Harris, Mac Jones and DeVonta Smith overpowered Ohio State. The Crimson Tide had over 600 yards of offense, while the Buckeyes had only half of that. Alabama finished with a perfect 13-0 record and gave Saban his second perfect season.

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The University of Alabama introduced the Nick Saban statue on April 16, 2011, during the A-Day game and 11 days before the tornado outbreak. It came fifteen months after the Crimson Tide won its first national championship in the Rose Bowl against the Texas Longhorns, 37-21. Former Alabama student Jeremy Davis designed the nine-foot, 800-pound monument as it depicts Saban clapping and encouraging his team. Mrs. Terry Saban had all the input on the project and she knew how it had to be done, Davis said in a New York Times interview.

“A real nice lady to work with,” Davis said. “She knows what she wants.”

Saban approved the statue and joked that he liked that the figure had more hair than he did. Davis said he had never seen coach smile from ear to ear before as he looked around at it.

Since the statue's unveiling, there have been five more engravings:

2011: Alabama-21 LSU-0

2012: Alabama-42 Notre Dame-14

2015: Alabama-45 Clemson-40

2017: Alabama-26 Georgia-23

2020: Alabama-52 Ohio State-24.

The monument has become a popular place to pictures with friends and family right before a home game in Bryant-Denny Stadium or graduation photos for students. Trolls have also used the statue to their advantage, like Ohio State fans including Saban in the O-H-I-O chant or a Tennessee fan placing a Vol flag in between the hands.

In the future, the statue will tell the story of the golden age of Alabama football under Nick Saban for all generations to come. The years and memories of the championships on the ring will last for a lifetime.