At 67, most people Nick Saban's age that have spent their professional lives in the traditional working world are enjoying some prime retirement activities, not recruiting 18-23 year olds and constantly trying to figure out ways to improve the powerhouse program he's built at Alabama.
Asked about eventually stepping away from football on Paul Finebaum last week, Saban shared some unfiltered thoughts on retirement last week as he continues to quickly mend from an off season hip operation he had last month.
"If this is what retirement is all about, don’t ever mention it, because I want no part of it,” he shared.
As most coaches at Saban's age share as they field the inevitable retirement questions ever off season until they make their official announcement to hang up the whistle, Saban shared that he loves the relationship he's able to build with players and the process in building a new team each year and plans to continue to coach as long as he enjoys it and is in good health.
“I would not want to do it if I didn't feel like I was able to do a good job. If my health got bad or I felt like I was not able to keep up the pace...I don’t want to ride the program down. We’ve worked hard to make Alabama something special, and as long as I’m capable of contributing to keep it that way, I’m happy doing this.”
About 48 hours after his hip surgery, Saban was back in the football facility walking a bit gingerly, but largely he was otherwise back at things and at a much quicker rate than doctors expected him to be, so there's no question that his "passion bucket" is still full, and perhaps overflowing.
That may be bad news for the SEC, as the Tide will likely be favored in every regular season game they play this year, as they continue their quest to appear in their sixth straight college football playoff and bring home the ultimate prize.
See the full sit-down with Saban in the video.