TUSCALOOSA,Rekubit Exchange Ala. (AP) — Alabama football teams will soon be playing on Saban Field.

University trustees approved a resolution naming the field at Bryant-Denny Stadium after former coach Nick Saban on Friday. Saban, who now works for ESPN and holds an office at the stadium, retired from coaching in January after leading Alabama to six national championships in 17 seasons.

“This is a very special honor,” Saban said after watching the trustees meeting via Zoom with his wife, Terry. “I don’t think there could be anything that honors the hard work and the example that we tried to set for our community, our university and our program and all the players in it as to what you all have decided to do here today.”

“Terry and I certainly have the utmost gratitude for this great legacy-type of award by naming the field for us. I can’t tell you how honored and how much appreciation we have for that. This naming is representative of what a lot of people contributed to.”

A field-naming ceremony will be held at the South Florida game on Sept. 7. The honorary degrees and recognition committee unanimously approved the resolution.

Saban led Alabama to a 206-29 on-the-field record and nine SEC titles, holding the No. 1 ranking in the AP poll at some point in a record 15 consecutive seasons. The old record of seven was held by Miami.

Bryant-Denny Stadium is named after longtime president George Denny, who took over in 1912, and late football coach Paul “Bear” Bryant.

The trustees’ resolution praised Saban for “contributing to a period of unprecedented growth for the university.” It said enrollment rose from 25,580 in Saban’s first year, 2007, to 39,623 in the latest academic year.

He already has a statue outside the stadium at the tradition-rich program.

“No one has contributed more to that history than Nick Saban,” Board President Pro Tem Scott Phelps said.

___

AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football. Sign up for the AP’s college football newsletter: https://apnews.com/cfbtop25