Is time running out on Nick Saban? Paul Finebaum thinks so, but not for the reason you might expect.
Finebaum made comments about Saban that quickly made the rounds earlier in the week, saying “time is running out on a national championship” for Saban and that other programs “catching up” have made it no longer inevitable that Alabama wins multiple titles in the coming years.
What Finebaum meant by that became the subject of some speculation, which he clarified on Thursday in a radio interview on WNSP 105.5.
“I think he needs to win soon,” Finebaum said, via Mark Heim of al.com. “My argument was his age. Age is relative. It’s not like I’m 25 years old, and I’m still holding on for dear life. Everyone knows Saban turns 69 (in October) and he still looks great.
“I think he has a fairly narrow window. … I think the clock is ticking, and I think that is obvious.”
Saban seems set on coaching for a while, and one former assistant thinks the Alabama coach has another decade in him. Will that decade be as successful as the previous one? You wouldn’t bet against it, but Finebaum is right that the gap seems to have narrowed a bit in recent years. Still, there’s something to be said for being a perennial contender, which the Tide still are. Time does not seem to be running out on that.
