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Nick Saban’s influence continues in Alabama, although he is no longer Crimson Tide Head coach.
This time it has nothing to do with football. It involves an old crab art.
Saban has been honored by the University of Alabama faculty when archaeologists who worked for the school discovered an old crab and named it after the coach who led Crimson Tide to six national titles.
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Former Alabama head football coach Nick Saban looks at the 13th hole under the Golden Bear Pro-Am before the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday 2025 at Muirfield Village Golf Club on May 28, 2025 in Dublin, Ohio. (Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
“A team led by the University of Alabama scientists has discovered several old crab and travel fossils from central Alabama – including one they have named after the legendary football coach Nick Saban,” read a press release from the university. “The official name of the crab is Costacopluma Nicksabani, but it can be called Saban Crab, short.”
The Saban crab was discovered in Lowndes County, Alabama, and is believed to have existed between 48 million and 87 million years ago.
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It is also believed that crabs of this kind survived after a meteorite hit the earth about 66 million years ago – the notorious event that led to the eradication of dinosaur.
“The art name not only honors Nick Saban because he famously won six national and nine SEC championships with Crimson Tide from 2007-2023, but his dedication to Nick’s Kids Foundation has continued to have a huge positive influence for children in Alabama and beyond,” Adiel Klompmaker, leading author of the study, says in a press release.
Nick Saban speaks before President Donald Trump arrives to give a commencement address at the University of Alabama, on Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
The Saban crab was the most common out of about 200 samples discovered on site in Lowndes County.
“The Decapod Crustacean Fauna is quite remarkable and, in addition to the Saban crab, contains seven other species, including another new crab art, two other crabs, a hermit crab and three digging shrimp,” added Klompmaker. “We also erected a new crab and a new burial shrimp height to better classify two species in the Decapod Tree of Life.”
This news comes as Saban returns to his old stomping grounds in Tuscaloosa this Saturday when his “College Gameeday” crew at ESPN hosts his first name on Campus before Crimson Tide Face Vanderbilt.
Coach Nick Saban speaks during ESPN’s “College Gameday” at Pennsylvania State University on September 27, 2025 in University Park, Pennsylvania. (Isaiah Vazquez/Getty Images)
Saban, already honored with a statue outside Bryant-Denny Stadium, will be honored during the game on Saturday as he is ready to enter the College Football Hall of Fame.
