Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide are coming off of the best season in program history. Coach Saban won the Bear Bryant Coach of the Year. Tide players captured almost every individual and squad award. Together, they produced an undefeated season and National Championship. With this season, Coach Saban cemented his hold on the title of the Greatest College Football Coach of All-Time.

Saban himself says this season was special. Coach Saban expressed deep appreciation to be able to compete with his team in light of COVID-19. The Crimson Tide Nation is feeling great about the future. In light of a mid-season taste of life after football, Coach Saban says he's not ready for retirement.

Even so, it's hard to look a decade into the future and imagine Coach Saban still at the helm of the Crimson Tide. Yet, I am confident that Alabama's place at the top of College Football. This dynasty will last well past Saban's eventual retirement. Why? Simple human development.

My confidence comes from understanding how people grow and develop. Erik Erikson defined the way we look at human development. In fact, we all use concepts that come from him all the time. Ideas like "identity crisis" and "midlife crisis" are Erikson's.

The theory is pretty simple. Every life stage centers on a turning point. A person must resolve each turning point to progress well to the next stage of life. Not resolving the key life stage leads to unhappiness and a lack of satisfaction.

If you are still with me at this point, you may be dismissive, but think about this. The Process proceeds from applying psychological theory to football. Saban's co-creator Dr. Lonnie Rosen is a noted psychiatrist. Saban's hallmark process is a result of a deep dive into understanding and harnessing human development. He uses individual motivation to lead each player toward both team goals and personal accomplishment.

I'm crazy enough to believe that Coach Saban isn't only the purveyor of The Process. He is its greatest example. That is why he rooted himself at Alabama and why the future even beyond his days on the sideline is bright. Let me explain.

Getting back to Erikson. He identified middle adulthood as a choice between "generativity" and "stagnation." In layman's terms, the main task of middle adults is to settle into life and career and to become productive. Generative individuals are those whose efforts lead to accomplishment personally and professionally. This means that they find satisfaction in things like parenting and career progress. We all can agree that Coach Saban is rounding the corner of checking those boxes and checking them in a way never seen in collegiate sports. So, what is next?

Erikson says the last developmental stage is one of "integrity vs. despair." The main task of this stage is for a generative adult to finish well. Life focus shifts from building a life to leaving a legacy. We are seeing this metamorphosis in Coach Saban's life in real-time. You can see it in his pride as a grandfather. It is being shown in his relentless focus on producing players and coaches for the rest of their lives. Coach still wants to win championships (and that will not change until the day he retires). But, winning on the field is one of two equal goals. He's also determined to see the people he leads win life.

You can see it in his approach to all the coaches who come in, find success, and move on to the next challenge. He isn't bitter. He isn't flustered. Why? Because advancement isn't only a personal goal for the coaches in his program. Greater success is the goal that he has for them too.

It's the same with players. When do you see Coach irritated by early departures? When he believes they haven't maximized their potential at the college level. He isn't mad they are leaving. His disappointment is that The Process isn't complete. In his estimation, those players are leaving money and success on the table at the next level. Their success is his success too.

So, why am I so confident that the next decade will be epic for Alabama Football? I am convinced that Coach Saban will bring his successor when the time is right, and he will protect his legacy. He will leave well, and he will leave something that will build on the foundation he leaves. Critics may sneer based upon some of his past career moves. Legacy may not have been the greatest consideration in his other stops along the way. At this stage of life, I would bet the farm on his legacy-defining his future actions.

Only time will tell. Until then, how do you see the next decade playing out for Alabama Football and for Coach Saban? Leave a comment below or respond on Twitter. I would love to hear your thoughts.