Non-playing Nick Saban in best form at Regions Pro-Am Golf

Once again Alabama football coach, Nick Saban proves you can’t keep a good man down. His widely shared comments at the Regions Pro-Am Golf event included some less noticed observations on his future.

Nick Saban loves to play golf. In a normal offseason, he gets in as much golf a possible, while still working lots of hours. Recovering from hip replacement surgery, Nick’s golf schedule is curtailed this offseason. He attended the Regions Classic Pro-Am on Wednesday even though he could not play. Nick did take part in a putting contest.

As always, fans followed him around in droves. Every media person in the state tried to get a Nick Saban interview. The WJOX-FM crew got a relaxed Nick Saban for a few minutes. His comments about Game of Thrones went viral. For the few who missed it, Nick Saban predicted Jon Snow will sit on the Iron Throne at the show’s end. He also said in the fantasy setting, he would go north and “recruit the White -Walkers (who) were the bad dudes.”

Fans, well Alabama football fans anyway, love seeing or hearing signs of normalcy in Nick Saban. As in – yes he is ‘superhuman’ but he’s like the rest of us a little bit as well. In reality, most hours of most days, he is not like the rest of us. Near constant pursuit for perfection leaves little space for trifling pursuits.

On Wednesday, Nick also spoke on something at the opposite end of trifling. He talked about his career moving forward. Nick Saban explained that his years of looking outward for a new challenge are over.

"We felt like we don’t need a new challenge. The challenge is, every year how do you sustain what you’re trying to accomplish from a standards standpoint? Every year is a rebuilding year in my mind. We don’t need to go someplace else to do that, we can just keep trying to do that at Alabama."

Nick Saban has firmly decided the only place he wants to pursue perfection is in Tuscaloosa, AL. His kids and his Mom are settled in Birmingham. Miss Terry loves Tuscaloosa. Nick does not need anything else.

Since every year is a rebuild, every year is also the next ultimate challenge. Nick Saban knows perfection can never be achieved but winning a national championship is a rewarding consolation prize. There are no prizes for coming so short as last season’s national championship failure.

If you are Nick Saban, first, you reassess to make sure all weaknesses have been identified. The staff, the rosters, even yourself – nothing can be ignored in a rebuild. Then you do the work and try to assure all those around you from staff to players do the same.

Someday, Nick Saban will not possess all the tools to chase an ultimate challenge. He is not built to chase anything less. So then, and only then, will his extraordinary career come to an end.

It will end in Tuscaloosa, AL. After he leaves the game, there may never be another like him.