Full speech of Nick Saban Field at Bryant Denny Stadium

[Applause] Co there even a few more people here than it were at the airport 18 years ago but it's uh it's pretty close pretty close indeed at this time I'd like to acknowledge several of our special guests and I apologize time we won't be able name everyone but do want to recognize first of all our B of Trustees were present today thank you saving family and many of their close friends who are here as well we thank [Applause] you we have numerous other special guests at the university the athletic department the savings as well we appreciate your presence for probably most fit with all due respect to everyone else that we've acknowledged most importantly the thousands of fans that are [Applause] here as I said before it is obviously a historic day for the University of Alabama we bestow this well deserved recognition for a coach and family that has meant so much not only to game of football but also this campus and our community the first speaker that we will hear from today would you please welcome the president of the University of Alabama Dr [Applause] Stewart time well it is great to be with you all and and what a crowd what a gathering ting at the University of Alabama like El and today we gather to honor a legacy that certainly transcends wins and titles as we officially name this fil sa Field's influence has Define what Brit and success look like in his leadership vision and commitment to Excellence that shap generations of young men and many student athletes pushing them to succeed on their fields earlier at a board of trustees meeting you may have heard me and many of our trustees individually speak about the impact that this family has had certainly on our institution but much far beyond that because their impact extends further and much Beyond just the sport carry and Nick have become an integral part of our community leaving a lasting imprint on tuscala and Beyond through their philanthropy service dedication to improving the lives of those around us their contributions through the ni kids foundation and various initiatives have touched countless lives supporting Education Health Care local programs Str our community the San's family influence is not just felt in this Stadium although it is great within this Stadium but also throughout Caloosa through the state and I think I can say the nation making their leadership and Service as legendary coach sa success on the GD Island by naming this field we recognize not only the Championships vict but also the profound excellence and difference that Nick and Har s have made on all of us their legacy will endure here at the University of Alabama for generations to come and fans will remember the infamous process and the values that will find both their leadership their contributions and the broader Community every time we feel the stand and we do coach us cheer but more importantly made us Happ on behalf of the University we are honored to celebrate you and your family today thank you for your extraordinary dedication to UA and the broad c community thank you all and Ro by [Applause] our next speaker is a gentlemen you know well it's again an honor to welcome our director of Athletics Greg [Applause] bur great to see everybody out here thank you Chris Stewart for the introduction um thank you Dr Bell for presenting and this naming and the Board of Trustees who give us wonderful support for improving this welld deserved honor of savors it goes without saying that we have a tremendous amount of football history here as well as significant history of many of our other builds when Regina and I first arriv in taloa one of the first conversations that coach s and I had he may be surprised by this he challenged me he said many of our programs have done really well however are we taking advantage of the historical success on the football field as well as we can for the rest of the meaning I'll be taking advantage the success the visibility the expectation for excellence Etc across the department positively impact all of our team and student athletes what a great challenge we actions meeting with recruits for All Sports meeting with other teams attending games he did everything he could to help us achieve success across the board no doubt he and Miss Terry cared about football but he also cared about the entire department and the university I remember one time coach s Miss Terry reg and I were in Florida together in the spring for an event we actually entire hour free and we ended up watching Alabama softball together in that fre hour we knew exactly where the team was how the season was going and much of the loss on the team as well that wasn't unique for softball it's efforts like these from Co s Miss Terry that benefited our entire department not just those of football but across the board I also tell you from my person experience just how much soate cares about the game of football I served on the NCAA football HDE committee for 4 years when the committee would have different issues that we were discussing and debating about the structure of college football I would often go to coach and discuss his thoughtfulness and transparency made you understand that he wanted to over his best in the game of college football not just Alabama he made so many people better coach and see just how important look Beyond job to truly have an impact on our community We Are Forever grateful for all they've done and we continue to do T and Beyond Today is a celebration of you coach s and Miss Terry and we thrill honor you at this time please join me and welcome me to the podium Nick and Terry s [Applause] thank each and every of you for coming here today and so much to us our family is excited and grateful for his historic honor the past 17 years years haven't felt like work rather it has felt like teamwork players coaches staff and our incredible fans [Applause] have I just hope that we can continue supporting Alabama supporting children students teachers and education through the football platform as well as our mix kids Foundation thank you [Applause] again this is no surprise to me or us because your support has always been the best in the country in terms of how you supported Alabama Athletics and how you supported the football program and how you supported us so I thank you so much we appreciate it more than you know but this is a great honor to have the Field named after the Legacy that we've been able to create here but I want this Legacy to represent every player who played who worked hard uh every coach who help those players develop our Administration who set a foundation where we had chance to be successful by providing all the resources that we needed to be to have the best program in the country and to use a fans who are always positive in terms of the way you supported our players our program and all the things that we did you given more to me than we've given to you you made us a part of this community 18 years ago which we appreciate it's our home now you you've given us the opportunity to be the coach at one of the Great univers in this country and I can't tell you how much that means to me that now more and Dr with gave us an opportunity 18 years ago now to come here and try to elevate Alabama football to be one of the nationally respected programs in the country and it was a great team that did it not me my family made great sacrifices you made had great impact with your support and creating one of the best atmosph of college football to play in the Brian Denis Stadium uh this community embraced us when we came here and I'm also proud of the fact that because we had such great support we created a program that helped players be more successful in life we can develop better people we have 668 de in 17 years which I'm very proud of which is going to help those guys have a better quality of [Applause] life and the number of wins and championships is all a reflection of the team which is the Players the coaches you the fans our Administration and everybody represents the so I can't thank you enough for being here today I can't thank you enough for the support that you've given us in good times and in bad in terms of helping our progr with successful and we want to continue to make Alabama one of the outstanding football programs in the country but also one of the outstanding athletic programs in the country because I think it's the window yet people look at this great universe and the impact that we were able to have by having successful program has elevated our University and I'm proud of the fact that we were able to contribute to do that so many ways so thank you very much and roll [Applause] [Applause] [Music] hopefully the power of your voice elevated to program a state and even brought down the side before we ever touch it with Dr Bell coach SA miss Terry Greg in their places we're going to break down officially now count of three 1 2 ladies and gentlemen for the first time welcome [Applause] while this concludes our ceremony one more fitting piece to today coach Miss Terry would you please take one more walk going to walk [Applause] he's going to be inside [Music] [Applause] woo are you fing which way we got to go