Alabama football's Nick Saban: Nancy Pelosi 'probably has a more important job than me'
Nick Gray
In an interview with the New York Times published Monday, Alabama football coach Nick Saban touched on several topics, not the least was his age and how he compares to Nancy Pelosi (D-California), the U.S. Speaker of the House of Representatives.
"You’ve won more championships than anyone," Times reporter Alan Blinder said in the question-and-answer story. "You’ll turn 70 on Halloween. You’ve got grandkids. But you just signed a contract extension. Why are you still doing this?"
Saban, 69, has been a college coach since 1973 and will begin his 15th season at Alabama on Saturday. He has shown no signs of slowing down, as evidenced by last season's undefeated finish that gave Saban his sixth national title at Alabama. In the interview, Saban said he still enjoys the challenges.
"And I don’t want to stay here beyond my years and ride the program down," Saban said in the interview. "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. I mean, how old’s Nancy Pelosi?"
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The interviewer noted that Pelosi, 81, is older than the Crimson Tide coach.
"Yeah. Way older. Older than me, and probably has a more important job than me," Saban said in the interview. "Anyway, as long as I feel like I can make a positive contribution in a positive way and do good things for the people in this organization, mainly the players, I enjoy doing this."
Pelosi has been a member of Congress, representing a portion of northern California since 1987, and has sandwiched a term as House Minority Leader from 2011-19 with two terms as Speaker. The Speaker of the House is responsible for running the House when it is in session and is the leader of the majority party, organizing voting and party election efforts in the House.
So yes, Saban is correct. It probably is more important.
Unless you live in Alabama.
Saban and the No. 1-ranked Crimson Tide travel to face Miami (Fla.) in the 2021 season opener on Saturday in Atlanta.