Saban aiming to help Predators compete for Stanley Cup as minority owner

NASHVILLE -- Since he was 9 years old, legendary football coach Nick Saban has always been a part of a team.

After retiring from coaching at the University of Alabama in January of 2024, Saban has found his new team in the Nashville Predators.

Saban, who controls Dream Sports Ventures LLC along with business partner Joe Agresti, purchased a minority ownership stake in the Predators, it was announced Dec. 16. He said Monday that his primary motivation is being a part of a team and helping it develop habits that lead to winning.

“It’s more about the challenge of how can we help the team rebuild, get better, have a chance to compete for a championship?” said Saban, 74. “I think when you do that, all the other things sort of come with it. That’s the goal. That’s the excitement. That’s the reason that I’m here today.”

Saban is widely regarded as the greatest college football coach of all time, with a record of 297-71-1 in 28 seasons. He won seven national championships -- six at Alabama and one at Louisiana State University -- the most of any coach in the sport in the modern era.

Saban also has worked in the NFL, spending four seasons as defensive coordinator of the Cleveland Browns from 1991-94 and two seasons as coach of the Miami Dolphins from 2005-06. He’s hoping his years of experience with building teams will be an asset for the Predators.

“What it takes to be successful is really pretty much the same in business as it is in sports, as it is in hockey, as it is in football in terms of, how do you build an organization that has the best chance to be successful?” Saban said. “It’s not about how you change lines or set lines or whatever you do when the game starts. That’s up to the coach, which I’m not qualified to be a coach in hockey. I am qualified to support the coach and help him provide the leadership to help his players maybe develop the kind of psychological disposition and competitive character to go out and play and be more successful because of it.”

Though Saban doesn’t expect to be involved in day-to-day decisions for the Predators, he does plan on assisting players and coaches behind the scenes.

“My success probably was more about helping people be successful,” Saban said. “In other words, I wanted everybody in the organization to have goals and aspirations and I wanted to help them define what they had to do to do it and provide the leadership to help them to do it. So if we can get everybody in this organization playing like a champion, we might have a chance to win a championship. That’s something I’ll always try to promote with our players and the people in our organization.”

The Predators, who are in their 27th NHL season, have not won the Stanley Cup. They have reached the Stanley Cup Final once, a six-game loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2017, and have not won a Stanley Cup Playoff series since 2018.

Saban attended a Cup Final game here, which is where his interest in the Predators began. He owns businesses in the Nashville area and felt that the Predators were a good way for him to get involved in the NHL.

“To have the opportunity to be partners with [Nashville chairman and majority owner Bill Haslam], a successful organization with a great brand like the Predators, was really something that was appealing to us and an opportunity that we were so excited to be able to take advantage of,” Saban said. “I’m no expert in hockey, so don’t look at me like I’m going to make some huge impact in coaching around here because that’s not going to happen. But I do have a pretty good idea of what it takes to have successful organizations.”

The Predators (15-16-4), who defeated the New York Rangers 2-1 at home Sunday for their third win in four games, entered Monday sixth in the Central Division and five points out of a wild card in the Western Conference. Saban and his wife, Terry, are ready for their new challenge of trying to help them win their first Stanley Cup championship.

“To be honest, Mrs. Terry has never asked me who won a game,” Saban said. “Last night I was looking at scores and she asked me who won the Predators game. So this runs deep in our house.”