Alabama football coach Nick Saban shows no signs of retiring and uses Nancy Pelosi as an example of doing important work at an advanced age.
Nick Saban turns 70 on Halloween but the soon-to-be septuagenarian has no plans of walking away and retiring in the near future. Heck, Saban may have another decade as the Alabama football coach before he seriously considers retirement.
In an interview with the New York Times, Saban weighed in on the current state of college sports and what the future may hold for the sport and for him. Simply, Saban loves what he does and doesn’t envision not being a part of a team.
Nick Saban giving no thought to retirement
“I enjoy what I do,” Saban told Andy Blitner of the New York Times. “I like the challenge. I’m not a sit-around, do-nothing kind of guy. I like to be involved in things, I like challenges.”
Alabama fans and college football fans as a whole may scoff at the notion of Saban being challenged coming off an undefeated national championship season and being the preseason No. 1 team again. Saban may make it look easy, but it is hard work staying at the top of the mountain.
“I don’t want to stay here beyond my years and ride the program down,” Saban said when asked about how much longer he’ll coach. “So as long as I feel like I can make a contribution in a positive way, to continue to have a great program for the players and that that’s helping them be successful and we have an opportunity to be successful because of that, I don’t think of age as an issue.
Nick Saban references Nancy Pelosi still working as a reason to keep coaching
“I mean, how old’s Nancy Pelosi?”
“She’s older,” NY Times columnist Andy Blinder said of the 81-year-old Speaker of the House.
“Yeah. Way older,” Saban replied. “Older than me, and probably has a more important job than me.”
Alabama football fans may not think the democratic House Speaker has a more important job than Saban, and I don’t think Saban is being sarcastic by saying, “probably” because he is a genuine person.
That said, age is just a number and the 69-year-old Saban is in better shape than coaches a decade younger, so as long as his health remains in order, he may coach another decade and win another handful of national championships.
Just like Tom Brady is defying Father Time in the NFL, Saban is making 70 look like the new 50.
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