You might remember a moment on ESPN’s College GameDay last season when Rece Davis appeared to be perilously close to saying something very bad when he spelled out Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe’s LANK slogan, leading to a lot of laughs amongst the rest of his crewmates.
Saturday, we learned a valuable piece of lore about LANK (Let a Naysayer Know), courtesy of the newest member of the GameDay cast.
Former Alabama coach Nick Saban is now part of the panel and he shared a story during Saturday’s show in Columbus, Ohio about a pep talk he gave during the 2023 season. As part of that talk, he told the Tide that they needed to “let all naysayers know” who they really were following a loss to Texas and a near loss to South Florida.
That immediately kicked off a giggle-fest from Davis, Pat McAfee, Desmond Howard, and Kirk Herbstreit as the full picture of the catchphrase came into view.
“That became the rallying cry of our team,” said Saban as everyone cracked up around him.
Nick Saban reminds the ‘College GameDay’ desk of last year’s “Let A Naysayer Know” catch phrase at Alabama
…but of course Pat McAfee and Rece Davis couldn’t forget 😂 pic.twitter.com/K0vjVqoUlX
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 23, 2024
The GameDay crew, sans Saban, found themselves in similar hysterics last season after Rece explained what LANK stood for.
Rece Davis was discussing the meaning of Jalen Milroe’s LANK (Let A Naysayer Know) apparel.
The rest of the GameDay crew thought he was going somewhere else with it. pic.twitter.com/YfqKMgztD2
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 1, 2024
Milroe shared his story about the origins of the catchphrase during a recent appearance on the Cover 3 podcast with Ryan Clark and Channing Crowder. According to him, it sounds like it was already in use before Saban said it, so perhaps the truth about LANK’s origin remains unclear.
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.