Nick Saban: Coaching Legend, and a Deal-Maker

October 21, 2025

Welcome to Gridiron Wallet — where NFL players don’t just chase rings, they chase bags. From million-dollar grills to side hustles that slap, we’re decoding how football’s finest make it, spend it, and sometimes… fumble it. 🏈🔥

The latest edition of our newsletter covers Nick Saban:

  • Net Worth Base: Coaching Contracts and Endorsement Deals

  • Automotive Empire: Dream Motor Dealerships

  • Real Estate and Lifestyle Assets

✍️Paper Play

Net Worth Base: Coaching Contracts and Endorsement Deals

Winning a college football National Championship in America is hard in itself. But winning one with two different programs is nearly unheard of. Nearly. 

Only two men have accomplished that unique feat: Urban Meyer did it with Florida (2006, 2008) and Ohio State (2016), while Nick Saban got it done at LSU (once) and Alabama (a whopping six times). 

Saban joined the college coaching ranks straight out of college in the early 1970s. He landed head coaching jobs at Toledo and Michigan State before he got the big opportunity with the LSU Tigers in 2000. He remained in Baton Rouge for half a decade, leading them to their second Natty in program history in 2003. 

After a short and unsuccessful two-year foray into the NFL, Saban returned to his roots in college in 2007 with Alabama. During his 17 years with the Crimson Tide, Saban not only racked up wins (201-29 record) and trophies, but also a lot of cash. And that’s because he was the best in the business. 

There were only three seasons in which his team didn’t win either a National Championship, a Conference Championship, a Conference Division Title, or a Championship Game berth.

According to Forbes, Saban made about $124 million in his 17-year career with the Tide. He was ranked as the highest-paid coach in the nation in most of those seasons. They also estimated that Saban made around $25 million during his three decades of coaching before joining Alabama.

Thanks in large part to that $150 million in lifetime earnings, Saban has been able to set up quite a hefty nest egg for himself. The Alabama legend boasts an estimated net worth of $200 million, according to the most recent estimates. 

But that’s not all earned from coaching. Saban, despite his seemingly surly demeanor, has been hawking a lot of products over the last few years. Thanks to endorsement deals with the likes of Aflac and Coca-Cola, Saban earns about $5 million in extra salary every year.

Also, Saban hasn’t actually left Tuscaloosa yet. Alabama has retained him in an advisory role — at a higher salary than he made in his early years as the head coach. His salary now is reportedly $500k, almost double the $305k he was making on one of his earlier Alabama coaching contracts.

And on top of all of that, Saban also has a media job as one of the analysts on ESPN’s flagship college football show, College Gameday. While the sports broadcaster has not reported the details of the deal, one would assume he’s making at least a million or two per year, considering his stature in the college football world.

Funny enough, retiring might have been the best decision for Nick Saban’s wallet.

💸 Future Proof

Automotive Empire: Dream Motor Dealerships

Perhaps Saban’s most public non-football venture is his stake in Dream Motor Group, an automotive dealership co-owned by Joe Agresti. It started in 2013, when the legendary head coach left Agresti a voicemail saying he wanted to open a car dealership. The automotive entrepreneur initially thought he was being pranked, but soon realized that Saban was serious about going into business with him. 

At the time, Agresti was already considered one of the best car dealerships around. His Mercedes-Benz shop, meanwhile, was considered one of the best in the nation. That’s why it only took one 30-minute meeting to get things rolling between him and Saban.

10 years later, in 2023, Dream Motor expanded into South Florida by acquiring two Mercedes-Benz dealerships in a move valued at roughly $700 million. Today, Dream Motor sells 20,000 Mercedes-Benz vehicles per year, making Saban and Agresti one of the best-run dealers in the nation.

Saban also owns dealerships in Alabama, Tennessee, and Texas. This includes a Ferrari dealership in Nashville and co-ownership of the ones in Birmingham. Their annual revenues are estimated to be around $2 billion. In fact, Agresti now has a net worth of $1.1 billion. And while Saban was last reported to be around $200 million, it won’t be a stretch to imagine his bank account getting fatter by the day.

Some reports suggest Saban and his business partners are exploring investments in a professional sports franchise in Tennessee. That could be the Tennessee Titans, Memphis Grizzlies, Nashville Predators, or Nashville FC. Whatever they decide, it will surely become front-page news. 

Furthermore, Saban and Agresti plan to expand their automotive ventures to South America through their dealership and business network. This, in addition to their aim to enter a sixth state. It’s ambitious, but together, Saban and Agresti feel like nothing can stop them right now.

💡 Gridiron Wallet Trivia

Did you know?
🌿 At the time of his retirement in 2024, Nick Saban had earned over $130 million in career coaching salaries—making him the highest-paid college football coach in history. His final contract at Alabama paid $11.7 million per year, not including bonuses, endorsements, and incentives tied to national championships and playoff appearances.

🏈 ✨Dream Scheme

Real Estate and Lifestyle Assets

Whether it’s his football programs, habits, or even his wealth, Nick Saban has always been old-school about how he builds things. Now 73 and retired, he’s carried that same discipline into managing his fortune. 

He has not made any wild bets in cryptocurrency or any flashy risks through VC firms. Saban has stuck to the slow, steady kind of wealth creation that mirrors his coaching philosophy: Build something that lasts.

That’s exactly what he’s done with his real estate investments. Saban’s biggest splash in this sector came in 2023, when he bought an oceanfront estate on Jupiter Island, Florida, for $17.5 million. It’s a 6,200-square-foot residence with six bedrooms, marble floors, a floating staircase, and walls of glass that look straight out onto the Atlantic. There’s even a private dock with a 40,000-pound boat lift — because of course there is.

That place does fit him perfectly. Jupiter Island is quiet, exclusive, and home to golf royalty like Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, and Gary Player. It fits a man who spends most of his free time on the course these days. 

No wonder Saban’s even made it his official residence, paying about $133,000 a year in property taxes after receiving a Florida homestead exemption.

But that’s not his only home. Back in 2013, Saban bought a 9,000-square-foot mansion in Tuscaloosa for around $3 million. It’s a more traditional Southern-style home with seven bedrooms, five bathrooms, big windows, tall ceilings… Exactly the kind of place you’d expect the most successful college coach in history to unwind after a long day of work.

So, to sum it up, between the Alabama property and his Jupiter Island mansion, Nick Saban’s total real estate portfolio reportedly adds up to about $20.5 million.

📆 CFB Money Stat of 1980

In 1980, the average major college football head coach made around $40,000–$60,000 per year—a far cry from today’s multi-million-dollar contracts. That same year, Georgia won the national title led by freshman sensation Herschel Walker, who played in front of packed stadiums while earning no salary, highlighting the massive revenue gap between schools and players in that era.