MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – When LSU wrapped up the final chapter of its 15-0 season with a resounding 42-25 win over Clemson in last year’s College Football Playoff National Championship, it seemed like it would be a long time before a college football offense was that prolific again.

The eventual No. 1 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, Joe Burrow, had just completed 31-of-49 passes for 463 yards and five touchdowns, both records in the national title game. The Tigers had 628 yards of total offense against a Clemson defense that had previously allowed 20-plus points just twice all season.

In addition, LSU’s archrival in Alabama had gone from finishing the 2018 season with a 44-16 drubbing at the hands of Clemson in the national title game to being dethroned in the SEC West and relegated to the Citrus Bowl as it watched its division counterparts hoist the national title trophy under purple and gold confetti.

With QB Tua Tagovailoa, WRs Jerry Jeudy and Henry Ruggs III and OT Jedrick Wills all being selected in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft that spring, the Tide suddenly seemed as vulnerable as they’ve been under Nick Saban in a long time.

Alabama convincingly put all those concerns to rest Monday night with a dominant 52-24 win over Ohio State at Hard Rock Stadium. The win gave Saban his seventh national title, surpassing Paul “Bear” Bryant for the most in college football history.

Considering the roster turnover from last season’s team, key injuries, along with the unprecedented challenges the COVID-19 pandemic forced everyone to navigate, a strong argument could be made that this Alabama team just completed the most impressive season of all-time.

The Tide played 13 consecutive Power-5 teams, including 11 SEC games, averaged 48.5 points per game and 541.6 yards per game and won by an average of 30 points.

“I think we’re the best team to ever play,” quarterback Mac Jones said. “There’s no team that will ever play an SEC schedule like that again.”

Alabama beat the No. 2, No. 4, No. 5, No. 7 and No. 13 ranked teams in the final AP Poll by an average of 19 points. In those games, the Tide scored 40-plus points four times, including three games over 50.

Even after losing those four first-round draft picks from last year’s team, Alabama somehow increased its scoring average against a more difficult schedule.

It’s a testament to the culture Saban has developed at Alabama, his unmatched ability to both recruit, evaluate and develop players, and most importantly, his ability to adapt to constant change.

Just eight years ago, Saban won his third national title at Alabama in the same stadium (known as Sun Life Stadium then), but his team’s DNA on that night in 2013 was completely unrecognizable to what it is today.

Back then, A.J. McCarron took the majority of his snaps under center with a rotating duo of Eddie Lacy and T.J. Yeldon lined up behind him. The Crimson Tide handed the ball off to those two a combined 41 times that night and pounded Notre Dame for 265 rushing yards. They simply bullied the Fighting Irish with a dominant run game and defense en route to a 42-14.

Just three months earlier, Saban had publicly complained about the modernized up-tempo spread offenses coaches like Texas A&M’s Kevin Sumlin and Ole Miss’ Hugh Freeze had begun installing in the SEC. Alabama was coming off a 33-14 win over Ole Miss, but Saban and Arkansas coach Bret Bielema unsuccessfully tried to get a rule passed that would prevent this type of offense.

Texas A&M and its Heisman winning dual-threat quarterback, Johnny Manziel, would later hand Alabama its only loss that season.

The sport was beginning to change and Saban smartly adjusted his formula, beginning with the type of players he recruited. The mammoth nose tackles like Terrance Cody, Josh Chapman and Jesse Williams that had traditionally been a staple of Saban’s defenses would no longer fit at Alabama. Instead he shifted toward lighter, more athletic tackles like Da’Ron Payne and Quinnen Williams.

Saban soon began putting five rangy defensive backs on the field at a time who could cover all the speed teams were beginning to put on the field with their spread offenses.

The offensive evolution began with hiring Lane Kiffin ahead of the 2014 season. Saban now embraced the tempo and run-pass option centric offense that he had complained about over a year ago. By the end of the 2015 season, Alabama was beating Deshaun Watson and Clemson in 45-40 shootout for the national title that might not have been possible a couple years before.

Fast forward to 2020, Alabama’s offense was indefensible under offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian. Whether that was Jones tossing darts to Heisman Trophy winner DeVonta Smith, Jaylen Waddle and John Metchie III in space or Najee Harris grinding his way past tacklers and hurdling others in the open field, Alabama was an offensive juggernaut after most believed the LSU’s offensive output the season before could not be replicated.

The Crimson Tide totaled 621 yards of offense Monday night and outscored the Buckeyes 38-10 after Ohio State cashed in on a rare Alabama turnover from its own 19 to tie the game 14-14.

“We’ve gradually changed through the years to be more spread-oriented but still keep pro-style, drop-back concepts in our offense,” Saban said. “This whole sort of blend of all these things, creating balance to be able to run, make explosive plays, with play-action passes that complement the runs, and be able to throw RPOs to people in the box a lot. We threw a lot of RPOs tonight.”

Jones had a historic night, completing 36-of-45 passes for 464 yards and five TDs. The 36 completions and 464 yards were a career-high. He also tied the record for most completions and touchdown passes in a national championship game, while his 464 yards topped Burrow’s previous record of 463 yards for most passing yards in the national title game.

Jones finished the season with a 203.1 passer rating, also passing Burrow’s 202.0 rating last year. Who would have ever seen this type of season coming from him?

Sarkisian deserves a lot of credit for his creative play designs and ability to get his best players in space.

Even with everyone knowing Smith would be heavily targeted, he still finished with 12 catches for 215 yards and three touchdowns. All of that came in just the first half. He left the game early in the third quarter after dislocating his finger.

“We have a great play-caller, and then we have a great offensive line and skill players that make it all happen,” Jones said.

Smith needed just the first half to cap off maybe the greatest season by a wide receiver in college football history. He was so dominant this season that his 1,856 yards receiving and 23 touchdowns eclipsed the past two Heisman-winning receivers combined (Tim Brown and Desmond Howard totaled 1,831 yards and 22 receiving touchdowns in 1987 and 1991, respectively).

Players like Smith, Waddle and Harris could have left for the NFL after last season and would have been early round draft picks. Smith and Harris instead returned and finished as top-five Heisman finalists. Waddle still played despite clearly not being 100% in his first game since returning from a broken ankle in October.

OG Alex Leatherwood and LB Dylan Moses were also considered potential first-round picks before the season started. They remained key pieces for Alabama’s latest national championship team.

“The guys that did came back, I’m glad they came back,” Smith said.

Then there’s center Landon Dickerson, who tore his ACL in the SEC Championship but still dressed for the game. When Brian Robinson ran for a first down on 3^rd-and-9 late in the fourth quarter, Dickerson entered the game to the loudest cheers of the night from the Alabama fans.

His teammates congratulated him with celebratory hugs before he snapped the ball twice in victory formation to end the game. It was a perfect representation of the type of culture Saban has created.

So many key players could have opted out of this season but chose not to. So many of them could have brushed off this season and used the pandemic as an excuse to have a down year. But they didn’t. Somehow, they made Alabama look better than ever.

“I think the one thing that this group is very unique at is I think they play with one another, they play for one another, they celebrate one another with the successes they have because they recognize that is team success,” Sarkisian said. “The maturity on this team is really high. Through a year when all of us — coaches, players, different teams, professional sports, college sports — have dealt with a lot with the pandemic, our leadership on our team has been tremendous and they’ve remained focused. They remained detailed in their approach. The result is we’ve played a high level this year.”

Smith, Harris, Jones, Robinson, Moses and Leatherwood were all part of a recruiting class in 2017 that may go down as the most accomplished ever.  

All of them were either four or five-star prospects except for Jones, which is another part of what makes Saban great. Not only does his staff recruit better than everyone but they develop players better than anyone too.

In the last five years, Alabama has produced 48 draft picks and 16 first-rounders, both more than any other program.

Saban just keeps winning at an all-time level even with the constant turnover he’s had on his coaching staff. He’s now won national championships with five different offensive coordinators (Jim McElwain – 2009, 2011; Doug Nussmeier – 2012; Kiffin – 2015; Brian Daboll – 2017 and Sarkisian – 2020) and three different defensive coordinators (Kirby Smart – 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015; Jeremy Pruitt – 2017 and Pete Golding – 2020).

It’s only fitting that on a night he passed Bryant for more national titles than any other coach, he pointed out that Bryant’s adaptability might have been his greatest strength too.

“I don’t think anybody really compares to Coach Bryant,” Saban said. “In the era that he coached, the era that he won, he won a lot of different ways. He won throwing it. He won running a wishbone. He won it running conventional offensive formations.”

After Clemson beat Alabama in the national title in 2018, it seemed like the Tigers were on the verge of supplanting the Crimson Tide as the nation’s top program. However, it seems Alabama will hold that honor as long as Saban is leading the way.

He might be 69 now, but the dynasty doesn’t seem to be ending any time soon. Alabama just signed the highest-rated recruiting class ever recorded last month. Somehow, a program that has signed nine No. 1 classes since 2010 just hit a new ceiling in terms of acquiring talent.

With the way Saban develops all that elite talent, his seventh national title might not be his last. Until Saban is gone, every other program in the nation will be chasing him.

2020 was a season that required adaptability more than any other season we’ve ever had. With no spring practice, perpetual COVID-19 testing and contact tracing, sudden game cancelations, along with coaches and key players having to miss games seemingly every week, coaches had to be ready to make quick adjustments. It was no coincidence Saban came out on top in this unique season.

His place as the greatest college football coach of all-time is cemented. His players didn’t hold back in endorsing him as such either.

“C’mon, man. Of course, he is,” Jones said. “How could he not be? He does it the right way. He recruits well, but more importantly develops great players and young men. I’m just so blessed that he gave me a chance to come here along with all my teammates. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. He’s the greatest to ever do it. He’ll be the greatest for a long time.”