Too-old Coaches Would Bring a Youth Movement to Our National Politics

Nick Saban, unarguably the greatest college football coach of all time, retired Wednesday at the age of 72.

Bill Belichick, arguably one of the 3 or 4 greatest pro coaches of all time, retired Thursday at the age of 71.

Pete Carroll, a legendary head coach at both the collegiate and NFL levels, was allowed to retire Wednesday at the age of 72.

All three coaches had reached an age at which few are still trying to keep head coaching jobs. There are rare exceptions like Joe Paterno, Bobby Bowden and a few others, but for the most part, it’s time to hang ‘em up when you reach your early 70s in the coaching game.

Now, let’s look at this in the context of our national politics. These three “old” football coaches would look like spring chickens in the U.S. Senate. They’d be the young blood coming in to dislodge the oldsters like Mitch McConnell, Chuck Grassley and Dick Durbin, among many others.