Things get tricky for football programs when they have to honor their second coach with a legitimate claim for the greatest of all time. Alabama football tried its best on Saturday, changing the name of its venue to Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

The ceremony to make the unveiling official was at the beginning of UA’s Walk of Champions, where the stadium’s sign had been updated. Mother Nature decided to reveal the sign ahead of schedule, with a gust of wind taking the crimson drape off during Saban’s speech.

“The power of your voice elevated a program, a state and even brought down the sign before we ever touched it,” UA play-by-play announcer Chris Stewart said as Nick and Terry Saban, Alabama athletics director Greg Byrne and president Stewart Bell prepared to remove the cover again. “…Ladies and gentlemen, for the first time, welcome to Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium.”

The weather was toasty in Tuscaloosa for the unveiling. Guests stood under a tent before Saban’s arrival.

Just before the 2:30 p.m. CT scheduled start, police on motorcycles brought in the guest of honor, his Mercedes stopping inside the barricades. Stewart kicked off the event, stoking the thousands of fans who had assembled before the speeches began.

After Bell and Byrne gave brief remarks, the Saban’s took the microphone. Terry Saban started things out for the couple.

“The past 17 years haven’t felt like work, rather it has felt like teamwork,” the woman best know as “Miss Terry,” said. “Players, coaches, staff and our incredible fans have made it happen. Love our fans. I just hope that we can continue supporting Alabama, supporting children, students, teachers and education through the football platform, as well as our Nick’s Kids Foundation.”

After that, it was time for the coach of the hour. Saban, fresh off a morning appearance on ESPN’s College Gameday show, thanked the group that brought him to Alabama in 2007, including late athletics director Mal Moore.

“This is a great honor to have the field named after the legacy that we’ve been able to create here,” Saban said. “And I want this legacy to represent every player who played an worked hard, every coach who helped those players develop, our administration that set a foundation where we had a chance to be successful by providing all the resources that we needed to be the best program in the country, and to you the fans who were always positive in terms of the way you supported our players, our program and all the things that we did.”

After the unveiling, the couple made the Walk of Champions into the stadium as fans cheered and AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” played. The Sabans will be honored one more time on Saturday, at halftime.

The Crimson Tide are scheduled to face South Florida, with kickoff set for 6:05 p.m. CT on ESPN.