The inner drive fueling Nick Saban at this point in his career is inspiring to witness, but also painful.

He’s breaking in a new hip, and that’s neither easy nor comfortable, but he still made an appearance on Wednesday at the Regions Tradition golf tournament at Greystone Country Club. He competed in a closest-to-the-hole putting competition against other celebrities playing in the day’s pro-am, but his activity was limited.

Still, he made the media rounds, and even stole the headlines for the day by talking about “Game of Thrones” on the radio with Jox’s Three Man Front.

Saban has fan theories. He thinks protagonist Jon Snow of the hit HBO show is going to sit on the Iron Throne before it’s all over.

Most people would probably say that Saban is the Night King of college football, but he’s actually more like old Tywin Lannister. Remember him? Always outsmarting and out recruiting everyone, those two.

Saban, an excellent golfer, enjoys the pro-am of the Regions Tradition every year, but he had to sit this one out. Doctor’s orders. Georgia coach Kirby Smart was there, however, and so was Auburn coach Gus Malzahn. Even Ole Miss coach Matt Luke participated.

That meant Saban, the master of a business where perception is everything, had to be there, too.

He had to maintain his image as the toughest, hardest-driving coach there is. At 67 years old and moving well following hip surgery, he’s doing a pretty good job of it.

“Like I tell the players all the time, they don’t make them like they used to, and there’s not many of us left,” Saban said. “So, I wouldn’t expect them to recover this fast, but it is what it is.”

Football players don’t return from hip replacement surgeries, although one very famous one from the Birmingham area did play professional baseball for two seasons after his. There weren’t any like Bo Jackson just like there has never been any like Saban. His quick recovery from surgery is a testament to his good health at an advanced age.

Saban is the third oldest coach remaining in the Football Bowl Subdivision behind Ohio’s Frank Solich (74) and North Carolina’s Mack Brown (67). Brown, who has Saban by a couple months, played running back at Vanderbilt and Florida State, and had five knee surgeries before he started coaching.

Nope, they don’t make them like that anymore.

If Saban and his new hip coach for five more years, then maybe they’ll be around for Urban Meyer’s third retirement from the sport.

“This is one of those things … you know as an athlete you’re always trying to push it to get to the pain,” Saban said. “No gain without pain. But this is one where you want to push it, but not to the pain. So, I’m having to adjust to that.”

There’s no slowing down Saban, though, and that’s what makes him so impressive. He is always recruiting. Always.

What’s he doing right now since he can’t play golf?

“I focus on work,” he said. “I work all the time … so, recruiting is a big thing that’s going on right now, evaluations of the spring, next year’s opponents. It has actually given me time to do some of those things because I can’t really go out and play golf or do anything else.”

Despite his extra hours, Saban is falling behind Clemson in this offseason’s recruiting battle, according to 247Sports’ composite recruiting rankings. Those rankings don’t determine anything, of course, but it does come on the heels of Clemson defeating Alabama 44-16 in the national championship game.

It was the worst defeat of Saban’s historic run at Alabama. The hip surgery didn’t come at the best time.

Will Saban win another national title, or is his run over? He would like to pass Paul Bryant for the most national championships of all time. Saban and Bryant both have six.

Time runs out for everyone and everything, and the clock doesn’t even stop for the greatest college football coach of all time. History says the window is closing on Saban’s reign atop college football.

Only one coach has won a national championship after the age of 66. Bobby Bowden, another all-time great, did it at 70 by out recruiting everyone just like Saban.

College football is about as cutthroat as that show on HBO, though. In this game, missing an appearance at a charity golf tournament isn’t even an option. In “Game of Thrones,” the famous line is “you win, or you die.” In college football, you recruit, or you go bye.

Saban and his new hip were surrounded by a four-cop detail at the Regions Tradition. Every king needs a kingsguard.

Joseph Goodman is a columnist for the Alabama Media Group. He’s on Twitter @JoeGoodmanJr.