Opinion: Nick Saban advocates for voting rights as he continues evolution beyond just Alabama’s football coach – USA TODAY

On the day after the 2016 presidential election that gave Donald Trump a stunning victory, Alabama football coach Nick Saban was asked at his regular news conference whether it was best for active coaches to avoid wading into political issues. 

“To be honest with you, I didn’t even know yesterday was election day,” Saban said. “So it was so important to me that I didn’t even know it was happening. We’re focused on other things here.”

He continued, “I don’t really make political comments. So If I say I like one person that means everybody that voted for the other person doesn’t like me. So why would I do that? I want what’s best for our country. I’m not sure I can figure that out. I want what’s best for people who want to improve the quality of their life, and I hope whoever our leader is will certainly do all he can do to make our country safe and improve the quality of life of a lot of people we have in our country and I don’t think I’m qualified to determine who that should be.”

It was, predictably, the safe thing for Saban to say. 

Regardless of Saban’s thoughts on Trump or his political leanings, which have been subject to much speculation over the years, for a coach in a state where Trump got 62 percent of the vote, why invite backlash from fans on either side of the aisle by saying something controversial?

It was, of course, absurd to think that Saban didn’t know a presidential election was happening. He may be the most focused, driven head coach in the history of the sport, but he’s still human. Saban was just so disciplined about keeping opinions to himself on any topic outside football that he convinced a lot of folks he’s nothing more than a cyborg. 

Little by little, though, Saban has started letting down his guard over the last few years. And now it appears he just doesn’t give a damn anymore about how many fans it’ll tick off. 

On Tuesday, a lot of folks were surprised when Saban’s name appeared on a Jan. 13 letter co-signed by five sports legends with ties to West Virginia advocating for the “Freedom to Vote Act,” a key legislative priority for President Biden and many Democrats to expand voting access and curb partisan gerrymandering. 

The letter was addressed to Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., who has been opposed to changing Senate rules so that the bill could move forward with a simple majority rather than the 60 votes required to currently break a filibuster. Without Manchin’s support for a voting rights carve-out in the filibuster, the bill is almost certainly dead in a Senate that is currently divided 50-50 between the parties.

Making Saban’s inclusion in the letter even more intriguing is that he’s been lifelong friends with Manchin, has donated money to his campaigns and even cut an ad for him before the 2018 election.

“Joe and I grew up together in West Virginia and he never forgets where he came from,” Saban said. “I don’t have a better friend or know a better person than Joe Manchin.”

For Saban, supporting a boyhood buddy in an election three states away is one thing. This is different. This is an unmistakably political stance, and one that offers so little benefit to Saban in his current circumstance that we can only deduce he believes it’s important to pass this bill. 

Subsequent to this story gaining traction Tuesday, Kaitlan Collins of CNN (who is an Alabama football fan with a photo of Saban as her Twitter profile header) reported that Saban requested a footnote be included on the letter saying he wasn’t in favor of getting rid of the filibuster in the Senate. It was not included. 

Who knows what any of this means in terms of impact on Manchin’s thought process. In reality, a letter from sports figures doesn’t seem likely to move a U.S. Senator one way or the other.  

But it certainly should open the rest of our eyes about Saban as a figure who is moving away from cyborg mode and into the realm of humanity where people have emotions and opinions. It also suggests that he is so darn untouchable these days that he can take a position at odds with most fans of the team he roots for in one of America’s most politically conservative states and not care about the blowback he might receive. 

In fact, you weren’t hearing “shut up and coach” Tuesday from Alabama fans. But you were hearing it from people like South Carolina Rep. Ralph Norman, who sent — and later deleted — the following Tweet: “Nick Saban should focus on winning National Championships instead of destroying our elections.”

What, seven isn’t enough for you, Congressman?

Norman’s district, by the way, includes a large portion of the state near Spartanburg and the Charlotte suburbs, which is generally considered Clemson territory. On behalf of his constituents, Norman should probably be careful what he wishes for. 

If you’ve been watching closely, though, maybe it shouldn’t be too much of a shock that Saban is showing more of himself to the public lately. In the middle of national unrest following the murder of George Floyd, Saban appeared in a two-minute video with Alabama players with the tag “All lives can’t matter until black lives matter.” Then that September, Saban walked side by side with running back Najee Harris in a protest against racial injustice and said he was “like a proud parent.”

The criticism got so bad from some corners of Alabama fandom that Saban’s daughter Kristen Saban Setas said she had to delete social media posts praising her father due to online harassment. 

Even for someone of Saban’s stature, going out on a limb isn’t easy. At the height of his popularity in 2010, Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari got so much gruff from the fan base for having a fundraiser for former Democratic governor Steve Beshear that he has backed away from anything political.

So to see Saban actually put his name next to a piece of legislation that would be considered unpopular in his state is actually quite interesting and impressive. And maybe it suggests that as he reaches the latter stages of his career, he doesn’t want just to be known for wins and losses.

Follow USA Today Sports columnist Dan Wolken on Twitter @DanWolken