Alabama’s Nick Saban is considered by many to be the greatest college football coach of all time.

While Saban guided LSU to a national title in 2003, it’s been his tenure with Alabama that has catapulted himself into the discussion with the coaching legends of the sport.

Saban has captured 6 national titles and 10 SEC titles at Alabama since taking over in 2007 after a mediocre stint with the Miami Dolphins.

Unlike many of his contemporaries, Saban has reached the mountaintop without needing elite quarterback play. This type of logic defiance was discussed by ESPN’s Matt Barie and Paul Finebaum.

Barrie marvels that Saban is in a class of this own because of it.

“He’s the one guy in this era of star quarterbacks that really hasn’t needed 1 to succeed better than anyone in the sport,” Barrie said.

Finebaum fired back that Saban is getting more credit because of his aura and the recent slew of quarterbacks he’s coached that are now in the NFL.

“I think because it’s Nick Saban, there’s always going to be more obsessing than normal. It’s also because of the last 4 quarterbacks. You tell me,” Finebaum said. “There have not been many better starting quarterbacks in a row than [Jalen] Hurts, Tua [Tagovailoa], Mac Jones, and Bryce Young.”

Barrie contrasts Saban’s dynastic run to that of Clemson coach Dabo Swinney who won his championships with standout quarterbacks.

“To me, Saban has been the blueprint forever and when you really dive and look you’re like ‘Well, wait a second.’ He was just as dominant without it [elite quarterbacks]. You can’t say that for many of these teams that have gone through the College Football Playoff era,” Barrie said. “Deshaun Watson, Clemson. Trevor Lawrence, Clemson. These were generational type players that led to Clemson’s success. They needed them. I don’t think Alabama really does.”

Jalen Milroe and Ty Simpson are battling for the right to be Alabama’s starting quarterback this season. Despite the uncertainty, Alabama is ranked No. 4 and Finebaum believes a spot in the CFP is attainable if either quarterback steps up.

“They’re still in a really good position. They could even lose the Texas game the second week of the year,” Finebaum said. “As long as a quarterback emerges and they can run the table from there, they’ll be in the Playoff.”