College football underwent something of a solar eclipse on Monday. Nick Saban was briefly incapacitated, and for a moment the sun that the rest of the sport rotated around went dark.
Nevertheless, such a period has already come and gone, as the Crimson Tide head coach underwent a planned hip operation that his doctors have now announced was a successful one. (Name the last time a doctor proudly announced they botched a procedure.)
"Coach Saban underwent successful robotic assisted right hip replacement surgery this afternoon with our hip specialist, Dr. Benton Emblom and the team at Andrews Sports Medicine," Dr. Lyle Cain said in a statement. "Coach is resting comfortably and we anticipate a full recovery. He should be able to return to work in the very near future, and we'll have him back on the golf course, with hopefully a few more yards off the tee, as soon as possible."
Saban said the issue with his hip came to a head over spring break, and that it bothered him more in some instances than others. Going up stairs was an issue, he said, and on the golf course it was more difficult for Saban to get out of his cart than it was to swing a club.
Regardless, the recovery process is expected to take six-to-eight weeks, putting Saban back at full strength well ahead of the 2019 season, his 13th as Alabama's head coach.
"I don't want to coach one more year," Saban said. "I want to coach a lot of more years."
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.