"I don't have a better friend or know a better person than Joe Manchin," Alabama Crimson Tide football coach Nick Saban says in the ad. | Michael Woods/AP Photo Elections Nick Saban, Jerry West and Bob Huggins endorse Joe Manchin

Sen. Joe Manchin has found a few friends to come off the bench and endorse his West Virginia reelection campaign.

"Joe and I grew up together in West Virginia and he never forgets where he came from," University of Alabama football coach Nick Saban says in an ad released Wednesday. "I don't have a better friend or know a better person than Joe Manchin."


Saban, NBA Hall of Famer Jerry West and West Virginia basketball coach Bob Huggins all appear in the 30-second spot aptly called "Coaches." All three are Mountain State natives: Saban is from Fairmont; West is from Chelyan; and Huggins hails from Morgantown, home to the state's flagship university

In the past, Saban, whose orthodoxy known simply as the "process" is legendary, has shied away from commenting on politics. Saban is currently seeking his seventh national title, which would set the record for most by a football coach in the poll era that dates back to 1936.

Manchin (D-W. Va.) is facing a tough reelection fight in a state President Donald Trump carried with 69 percent of the vote in 2016, although POLITICO currently rates his race against Attorney General Patrick Morrisey as "lean Democratic." A former governor of the state, Manchin was the only Democrat to vote for Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation to the Supreme Court.