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- Top college football coach Nick Saban said age is not a problem for him.
- In an interview with The New York Times, Saban compared himself to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
- “I don’t think of age as an issue,” Saban said. “I mean, how old’s Nancy Pelosi?”
- See more stories on Insider’s business page.
With six national championships under his belt, University of Alabama football coach Nick Saban gaveled in on the question of age during a recent New York Times interview.
“You’ve won more championships than anyone,” Times reporter Alan Blinder asked Saban in the interview published on Monday. “You’ll turn 70 on Halloween. You’ve got grandkids. But you just signed a contract extension. Why are you still doing this?”
Saban, a terse tactician who normally goes out of his way to remain apolitical, went in an unexpected direction.
“I enjoy what I do. 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 … And I don’t want to stay here beyond my years and ride the program down. 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,” Saban said. “I mean, how old’s Nancy Pelosi?”
“She’s older,” the reporter said of the 81-year-old Democratic house speaker.
“Yeah. Way older,” Saban replied. “Older than me, and probably has a more important job than me.”
Pelosi is in charge of ensuring bills pass the House with enough of her members in line to make a floor vote a guarantee, and she also plays a role in recruiting new candidates.
Saban also dedicates time to recruitment, but that’s about where the overlap ends.
At $9.3 million per year, Saban is the highest-paid public employee in Alabama, while Pelosi earns $223,500 annually as third-in-line to the US presidency.
“Anyway,” Saban continued, “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.”