Stanford Steve's Cal taunts sparked a hilarious exchange with Nick Saban, who in turn jokingly questioned his love life. Credit: ESPN’s ‘College GameDay’
By Sam Neumann on

You can say what you want about College GameDay‘s cast and crew, but ESPN’s traveling pregame roadshow has always known how to play to the crowd. Whether Pat McAfee joins in on the chants and traditions or completely rips off his shirt, GameDay listens when the crowd asks for something.

And while the Cal faithful at Berkeley didn’t exactly ask to be taunted by Stanford Steve, it comes with the territory. You can’t come to Cal and not expect there to be a mention of the Cardinal, especially with the history rooted in the two programs, transcending conference realignment.

Stanford Steve (Steve Coughlin) played tight end at Stanford from 1996-2000, and he never lost to the Golden Bears. He also made sure to let the unruly crowd at Berkeley know about it, unnerving and taunting the faithful before roasting them about their college choice.

“Didn’t lose to Cal for four years; 2-0 in that stadium right up the road,” he says. “I am biased when it comes to the Cal fans because whenever I played in that stadium, it was sold out — they do a great job. But I also wonder how many of these [Cal students] are here because they didn’t get into Stanford.”

Nick Saban made sure Stanford Steve didn’t get in the last word.

“I’ve got a question for you: if it was so great at Stanford, why did you have a girlfriend here at Cal?” he asked.

Ouch.

“There is a saying: Nine out of ten girls in California are beautiful,” quipped Stanford Steve. “That one out of ten goes to Stanford.”

“The comments made by Stanford Steve do not necessarily reflect the opinions and the evaluations of all of us here on the College GameDay set,” said Rece Davis. “We sincerely apologize to all of the lovely women who have graced ‘The Farm’ here at Stanford.”

That seemed like a good time to turn it over to Pete Thamel for an update.

“My sources today didn’t have Nick Saban questioning Stanford Steve’s love life,” the ESPN CFB insider joked.

In true College GameDay fashion, the banter was all in good fun, but it’s hard to top Saban coming for Stanford Steve here.

While GameDay’s betting analyst may have thrown the first punch with his Stanford-Cal jabs, Saban made sure he didn’t walk away unscathed. At the end of the day, this is what GameDay is all about — the rivalries, the laughs, and a little friendly fire.

And when even Saban gets in on the jokes, you know there’s something special about this Cal crowd.

[College GameDay]

About Sam Neumann

Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.

View all posts by Sam Neumann