Greg Bryne is entering the biggest moment of his career. He’ll have to replace Nick Saban as Alabama’s football coach, after the man who won six national titles with the Crimson Tide announced his retirement on Wednesday.

As he embarks on what could be the most high-profile hire in the history of the sport, Bryne thanked Saban for his service in a press release issued by the athletics department. He then took to social media to issue a statement.

“As with any coaching search, our goal is to be thorough but expedient,” Byrne said in a post. “Our ideal candidate will be strong in recruiting and relationship building, player development, excel in Xs and Os and have the overall ability to lead this historic program.”

Candidates being thrown around in public for the job include names like Oregon’s Dan Lanning and Texas’ Steve Sarkisian. If there’s a downside to the Alabama job, it’s that Saban’s tenure created such high expectations that some coaches could view as impossible to live up to.

In his statement, Bryne attempted to head off some of the speculation surrounding the next coach.

“There will be plenty of rumors out there during this process,” Bryne said. “Next time I talk publicly will be to announce our new coach. If you don’t hear it from me, don’t believe it.”

UA president Stuart Bell added his voice in a statement released on social media by the school.

“As we would all expect, the University and its leadership will work tirelessly to ensure our proud tradition and standard of excellence continues in football and every endeavor that supports the mission of The University of Alabama.” Bell said.

Alabama opens the 2024 season on Aug. 31 against Western Kentucky at Bryant-Denny Stadium.