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Nick Saban recalls childhood nostalgia from Friday Night Lights
By Rolando Rosa
Published:
Nick Saban quickly learned the importance of winning as a quarterback at Monongah High School. Back then, Saban wasn’t a legendary college football coach. But he was a central figure in the Friday Night Lights atmosphere in his West Virginia hometown.
The 71-year-old Saban gleefully recalls the nostalgia from his high school days.
Nick Saban FINALLY shares the birthplace of his unending drive to win. @jimdunaway pic.twitter.com/cFyn87c8r6
— The Next Round (@NextRoundLive) September 15, 2023
“The old traditions that the community related to the school…Everybody that lived in Monongah, the last person turned the lights out when the game finished,” Saban said. “Everybody went to the game. Everybody was interested in the school and the spirit of the school, who was in the band, who were the cheerleaders.”
Turns out the folks in Monongah also loved to wager on the action. This cast the spotlight squarely on Saban.
“Where I played everybody bet on the game,” Saban said. “..They’d stand behind the bench and I was the quarterback. They’d say: ‘We’ve got to score again. We’ve got to cover.'”
Winning certainly had its benefits. Particularly at a local joint with the only pinball machine in town.
“[If we won] we got a roll of nickels and played the pinball machine for free. If you lost, they never let you in,” Saban said. “We were all underage. We weren’t supposed to be in there anyway.”
The lessons Saban learned in high school clearly paid off in the form of 7 national titles as a head coach. Saban and Alabama will take on host South Florida in Week 3.
