Lane Kiffin explains why he thinks Nick Saban will coach for a long time, compares him to ‘Shawshank Redemption’ character

As Nick Saban gets older, the speculation about when (and if) the legendary Alabama coach will retire gets more intense.

He’s 68 now, but he hasn’t really shown any signs of slowing down in recent seasons, even as the college coaching world gets more hectic.

New Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin (who spent a couple of years working under Saban at Alabama) spoke on the “Dan Patrick Show” on Wednesday and said he doesn’t think Saban will ever retire. He even compared him to a character from “Shawshank Redemption,” as you can see in the clip below:

.@Lane_Kiffin compared Nick Saban to the prisoner Brooks Hatlen from “Shawshank Redemption” — Saban wouldn’t know how to function in the real world without coaching Alabama football pic.twitter.com/3Ld9VcB1c7

— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) December 11, 2019

“I think he’s going to coach for a long time. I do,” Kiffin said. “What else is he going to do? He does golf, but he’s miserable. I mean that in a way in that’s why he’s so good. He is singularly focused on the University of Alabama and football at Alabama, every minute of every day, even if he’s golfing, even if he’s on a boat. He has his recruiting calls to make every night, whether it’s Christmas or whatever it is. It doesn’t matter. Every day is the same.

“There are certain people like that. They’re almost like prisoners. You can’t go in the real world, like in ‘Shawshank Redemption.’ When Brooks Hatlen goes out into the real world, he’s like, ‘I can’t do it. I need to be in prison.’ They come back.”

That’s certainly an interesting comparison. Kiffin is already making waves now that he’s back in the SEC. Welcome back, Lane!

Adam Spencer

Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.