Just A Minute: Why Even Non-Stories Are Stories When It Comes to Nick Saban

The Alabama Crimson Tide coach continues to make it clear that he's not going anywhere, which has been his offseason message for 15-plus years at Alabama.

You probably have noticed that Nick Saban's name has popped up on the news lately, even though the Alabama coach hasn't done anything that's particularly newsworthy.

On Wednesday, Saban surprised Justin Thomas at TPC Sawgrass for a media day, and the pair played the final three holes on the Stadium Course to help promote the upcoming tournament. 

Saban faced No. 17 for the first time, and did what nearly everyone else does, found the water with his first couple of shots. 

“I can’t believe you got this guy away from recruiting long enough to come here,” Thomas said according to PGA.com. 

A couple of video clips from recent speeches have also made the rounds on special media. 

On one, Saban admits that some of the young receivers didn't prepare like they needed to last season and weren't ready when called upon to step up.  

Then there's what he said at the American Football Coaches Association clinic: 

“Everybody asks when I’m going to retire. Retire for what? I'm going to jump into an empty abyss? Of what am I going to do? Because the very challenges I talk about and the things in our profession that concern me, for you and for me both in your game and our game, that's what keeps me going. That's why I get up every day. That's why I can't sleep at night sometimes. Why would you quit doing that? I haven't figured that one out yet.

"The only thing that I have ever said is that if I felt like I was riding the program down or wasn't able to make a positive contribution to the program, then that would probably be time to let somebody else carry the torch.” 

I can confirm, that's pretty much all Saban has ever said on the subject, at least in public. 

But Saban's comment wasn't recent. The AFCA speech happened in January. 

It also didn't offer anything that we hadn't heard before. It's like a lot of the offensive play-calling we see nowadays, the substance was essentially the same, just with different window dressing. 

Saban hates repeating himself. To him it's a complete waste of time, and he's basically been saying the same thing for 15-plus years now at Alabama. Moreover, he's got the extra motivation this year of coming off a season in which the Crimson Tide didn't win the national championship. 

Let's get one thing straight: Nobody has any business telling anyone when they should retire. It doesn't matter if the person is a coach, an athlete, a carpenter or a journalist. If someone has had enough and wants to walk away from a career, all the more to him or her. 

Nevertheless, I could pretty much tell you what Saban's reaction has been to all these non-stories being stories during the offseason when there are so many other things going on: "What are we talking about here?"

Spring football and the 2022 season can't get here soon enough ... 

Nick Saban and Justin Thomas

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