Alabama Crimson Tide football coach Nick Saban has been showered with awards in recent years, but he may have received his highest compliment when Forbes Magazine placed Saban high on its list of the World's 50 Greatest Leaders.
Forbes put the 66-year-old Saban at No. 12 on its list, ahead of Apple CEO Tim Cook (No. 14) and Oprah Winfrey (No. 27), among others.
Saban is the only one on the list with direct ties to college football. The only others with connections to the sports world were Serena Williams, who was placed at No. 15, and "The Gymnasts and Their Allies," who were ranked No. 22 for their role in bringing to light the scandal surrounding Michigan State and USA Gymnastics physician Larry Nassar.
Saban's Crimson Tide won last season's national championship with a comeback win over Georgia in the title game.
The magazine's story on Saban included the following excerpt:
"Add an earlier [national championship] he won at LSU in 2003, and his six rings match Alabama legend Paul 'Bear' Bryant for the most football championships by a college coach in the so-called poll era, dating back to 1936. Now that he's succeeded to a historic degree, Saban is grappling with the sports version of what business guru Clayton Christensen famously dubbed the 'Innovator's Dilemma' -- the fact that success today makes it hard to keep the edge you need to win in the future. But if the last few years are any indication, the grappling is going pretty well."
No. 1 on the Forbes list were the students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas and other schools, followed by Bill and Melinda Gates at No. 2, the #MeToo Movement at No. 3 and South Korea president Moon Jae-In at No. 4.
