It’s only Nick Saban’s second week on ESPN’s College GameDay, but he’s certainly getting attention there. The latest example of that came early Saturday in a discussion about paying players. There, Saban said even a highly-paid roster might not succeed if the money isn’t used well. But he did so in a rather profane way, and got quite the response from Kirk Herbstreit:
“You guys keep talking about a 20 million dollar roster. If you don’t pay the right guys, you’ll be shit out of luck.” – Nick Saban
“Congratulations- you just broke the internet.” – Kirk Herbstreit pic.twitter.com/MfGXau6gyh
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 31, 2024
That did indeed draw quite the internet response. Here’s some of that:
The equivalent of getting a personal foul on the first series of the game to set the tone and establish dominance. Brilliant from coach Saban aight https://t.co/B6EovjqH2q
— Joey (@JoeyMulinaro) August 31, 2024
Saban with zero gives a shit. Well at least one. Ha https://t.co/eBGT4185U3
— Tony Erquiaga (@lilerq74) August 31, 2024
Desmond Howard cackling on Gameday, we are officially back. https://t.co/ggEi767DV0
— Mark D (@_DunnDeal) August 31, 2024
That’s life Coach Saban 😂😂😂#CollegeGameDay pic.twitter.com/8Bh8fOmvOm
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) August 31, 2024
Presumably, though, Saban didn’t overly offend his employers with this, with even the College GameDay account tweeting it (albeit with some censoring):
“If you don’t pay the right guys, you’ll be s— out of luck.” —Nick Saban 🤣 pic.twitter.com/eFJqeXwcSi
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) August 31, 2024
Saban got in another funny line later, too, in an interview with Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney:
“I got one suggestion for (College) GameDay that I think can take ya’ll to new levels… If ya’ll can at some point during the year get [Nick Saban] on set with a Pat McAfee tank top side by side, it’s over.” – Dabo Swinney
“I’m gonna have to start working out.” – Saban pic.twitter.com/r2Bam5lK4O
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 31, 2024
Saban’s first week on GameDay, from their Week 0 show in Ireland, drew a lot of strong reviews for him as a broadcaster. And his follow-up is continuing to be generally well-received. Many coaches who transition to broadcasting get some criticism for an unwillingness to fully sound off in aid of preserving relationships or future coaching opportunities, but that definitely doesn’t seem to be the case with Saban so far. He’s definitely out here saying what he thinks, even if some of it is profane.
[Awful Announcing on X/Twitter]
