This first appeared in Kevin Scarbinsky’s weekly newsletter. Subscribe to get it in your inbox every Thursday, $5/month or $50/year.

The question came out of the blue, which isn’t unusual when Wimp Sanderson is doing the asking. One minute during our weekly Tuesday morning radio visit on Tide 100.9 in Tuscaloosa, we were discussing College Football Playoff possibilities. Next thing I knew, he threw me a curve.

“In your opinion, behind the scenes, is this Nick Saban’s last year?”

Hello.

If you know Wimp, you know he knows things. He knows things because he knows people. Not just at Alabama, where he coached for 32 years, the last 12 as head coach. And not just in basketball, which he coached better for longer than anyone else in the program’s history.