Nick Saban heard two main questions when he met with players after the 2023 season ended. Playing time and money.

"I thought we could have a hell of a team next year, and then maybe 70 or 80 percent of the players you talk to, all they want to know is two things: What assurances do I have that I'm going to play because they're thinking about transferring, and how much are you going to pay me?" Saban told ESPN. "Our program here was always built on how much value can we create for your future and your personal development, academic success in graduating and developing an NFL career on the field."

Alabama football ended the season in the Rose Bowl and then returned to Tuscaloosa where Saban held meetings with his players as they looked to make decisions for the future.

"So I'm saying to myself, 'Maybe this doesn't work anymore, that the goals and aspirations are just different and that it's all about how much money can I make as a college player?' I'm not saying that's bad," Saban said. "I'm not saying it's wrong, I'm just saying that's never been what we were all about, and it's not why we had success through the years."

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The way things transpired with players after the Rose Bowl ended, immediately on the field and meetings, were "some of the events that certainly contributed" to Saban deciding to retire on Jan. 10, but those events weren't the only or main reason.

Saban cited his age as a factor; "I felt like my age was starting to impact a lot of things." He also mentioned trying to hire new assistants and convince them to move to join his staff was another. He was interviewing candidates as late as the day he retired.

"People wanted assurances that I was going to be here for three or four years, and it became harder to make those assurances," Saban said. "But the thing I loved about coaching the most was the relationships that you had with players, and those things didn't seem to have the same meaning as they once did."

Nick Kelly is the Alabama beat writer for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network, and he covers Alabama football and men's basketball. Reach him at nkelly@gannett.com or follow him @_NickKelly on X, the social media app formerly known as Twitter.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Nick Saban didn't feel his message resonated as much in NIL era