TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama head football coach Nick Saban and Michigan head football coach Jim Harbaugh haven’t been seeing eye-to-eye lately, as their war of words over satellite camps has played itself out in the media. But the two coaches might have to make nice, given today’s revelation that both of their schools belong to the same Hogwarts House.
On Tuesday, Reddit College Football’s twitter account tweeted out a sorting of the sport’s top programs into the houses popularized by the Harry Potter book series.
Both the Crimson Tide and the Wolverines were placed in the Slytherin house, which is known in the series as a breeding ground for villains. According to Pottermore, an official Harry Potter website, Slytherin “values ambition, cunning, leadership, and resourcefulness; the Sorting Hat said in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone that Slytherins will do anything to get their way. The house mascot of Slytherin is the serpent, and the house colours are green and silver.”
With such a description it is not hard to see why Saban and Harbaugh would helm programs in such a category. Alabama is perennially seen as college football’s arch-villain, with almost every other fan base constantly hoping for it to fail. Saban’s ambitious “process” has been described as mechanical and has been proven to deliver maximum team success and achievement.
Harbaugh similarly has exhibited the ability to win at a high level. His first major college coaching stint was at Stanford University, where he returned a program to greatness even when it was considered “hard to win there.” He left for the NFL, leading his 49ers just shy of a Super Bowl title before returning to the college game at his alma mater.
Three other Alabama programs were included on the list. The Auburn Tigers were placed in Gryffindor, while UAB and South Alabama were placed in Hufflepuff.
Based on the back and forth comments the men have fired at each other, it seems Saban and Harbaugh have a lot of mending to do if they want to win the House Cup.
Alabama’s first game is on Saturday, September 3 against the USC Trojans.
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