Dem
51
GOP
49
Well, not the whole world, maybe, but one small corner of it.
Anyone who is a sports fan, and many people who are not, will have heard by now that football coach Nick Saban retired yesterday. Having won six national championships at the University of Alabama (his final posting) and a seventh at LSU, he's got a strong case for being considered the greatest college football coach of all time, up there with Knute Rockne, Bear Bryant, Amos Alonzo Stagg and Eddie Robinson.
What does this have to do with politics? Well, if you put together "Alabama" and "football coach," perhaps you can guess where this is headed. Within hours of Saban making his retirement official, Alabama Democrats made it clear that they would love, love, love to see Saban run for the U.S. Senate when the seat of football coach Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) is up again in 2026.
Saban actually keeps his politics pretty close to the vest, so it's not actually known if he is, you know, a Democrat. However, he did endorse his longtime friend Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) several times, so maybe. Truth be told, he seems like one of those guys who could go either way, depending on what makes the most tactical sense—not unlike Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952, who was courted by both political parties and who turned out to be a centrist.
Saban, at 71, is also a bit aged to be starting a political career. On the other hand, 71 is pretty much middle-aged by U.S. Senate standards, and Tuberville is only 2 years younger than Saban, so age might not be such a problem after all.
We have to imagine it's a longshot that Saban actually agrees to run; he's earned the right to relax, and if he wants to work, he can make way more money with way less hassle commenting on college games once a week for 14 weeks each year. That said, if he does run against Tuberville, it will be very interesting to see what Alabamians value more: football success (Saban) or the (R) after the name (Tuberville). (Z)