Jinaka Chambers was giddy with excitement Monday morning when several University of Alabama football players, along with former coach Nick Saban and his wife, Terry, showed up and donned hard hats to help work on her house.

"I'm excited. I'm very excited. I love coach Saban and was very sad when he retired, but I was so excited that I got the last house and the 'LANK House' at that," Chambers said. LANK refers to a slogan created by Alabama players last season, an acronym for "Let All Naysayers Know."

More: Sweeter than Sugar: Nick and Terry Saban's charity dedicates 20th Habitat Home

The Nick's Kids Foundation is funding the construction in honor of the 2023 team that made the playoffs after a rocky start. The house is at 4239 Milestone Circle in Tuscaloosa. Chambers, who is an employee of the City of Tuscaloosa, and her 11-year-old son Landon Hall will live in the new home which will be dedicated in early May.

"I was telling the players, Nick and I have been doing this for over 50 years and I feel that last year's team and the way the year ended up is maybe one of my favorites," Terry Saban said.

"They overcame so much adversity and the media was so negative with us, and the fact they came together as a team and they created that slogan: 'Let All Naysayers Know.' That's famous," she said. "The fact that this house is named after that slogan that represents great teamwork and overcoming adversity is a great lesson. So I am proud of the year they had and I'm proud they are all here to contribute to this house."

Nick Saban, who retired as UA's coach in January after 17 seasons in Tuscaloosa, also said he was proud of the 2023 squad.

"This is the LANK house. It's really a tribute to last year's team, the hard work, the togetherness, the perseverance, the overcoming adversity that took us from being an average team to being a team that made the playoffs and had a chance to win a national championship. That's what this house represents," Nick Saban said.

Of the 103 houses built by Habitat for Humanity in Tuscaloosa since the 2011 tornado swept through the city, 21 have been funded by the Nick's Kids Foundation.

Ellen Potts, executive director for Habitat for Humanity Tuscaloosa said the partnership with Nick's Kids Foundation and the Saban family has dramatically changed the impact her organization has had on the community.

"The partnership with Nick's Kids has been completely transformative. First of all, and most importantly, there are the 21 families whose lives have been changed generationally because of the generosity of the Sabans and their Nick's Kids donors," Potts said.

The impact on Habitat is far greater than the 21 houses. Potts said that before the tornado, Habitat built only a house or two each year. When Habitat joined forces with Nick's Kids Foundation, the entire organization received a lift.

The publicity generated by the organization's association with Nick and Terry Saban brought national attention through television shows like ESPN's "Game Day" and "60 Minutes," exposure that would not have happened without the Sabans' influence.

"People know Miss Terry and Nick Saban would not be associated with an organization that didn't do the work. That made a lot of people give us an extra look. It made a lot of people want to work with us or investigate working with us. Because of our association with Nick's Kids, especially right after the tornado when we were a tiny organization that built maybe one house per year, it put us on the map," Potts said.

For the Sabans, funding the homes has been a great experience, one that Terry Saban said they do not plan to stop doing even in retirement. However, one of the great rewards for them is seeing how the lives of their players have been changed by the experience.

"One of the things that makes me most proud as the coach is how many of our players when they go on and have success have their own foundations to help people and have the compassion for other people to help them," Nick Saban said.

"I think a lot of that is stimulated by the fact that so many players through the years got a great feeling about working on these houses, seeing how it impacts families and that's been an inspiration to them to have their own foundations someday to give back to the community," he said.

Terry Saban sees the broad impact Nick's Kids has had over the course of their tenure in Tuscaloosa. They have accomplished many projects, including an educational wing at the Tuscaloosa County Juvenile Detention Center to help teach incarcerated youth a job skill. They have donated over $21 million to community projects and have honored 600 teachers through the foundation.

"I think there is a lot Nick's Kids and our donors have done. I'm very proud of that and I'm very proud of the Habitat Houses," Terry Saban said.

Potts said she, like the Sabans, believe that the players being involved in Habitat projects in Tuscaloosa will be something they take with them and will hopefully impact other cities as well.

"Just the players that are coming out now. Who knows where they will land all across the country. Who knows, maybe there will be a Habitat affiliate there and we hope they will catch 'Habitat-itus' wherever they land," Potts said.

Reach Gary Cosby Jr. at gary.cosby@tuscaloosanews.com.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Nick and Terry Saban partner with Habitat to build the 'LANK' house