Nick Saban instantly became one of the rising stars in sports media last year when he joined ESPN’s College GameDay as an analyst.
He earned praise for his prep work, offered good analytical takes and coaching wisdom, and served as the perfect straight man to Pat McAfee’s zany antics.
Yet Saban is 73. He doesn’t need the money, and the CGD role can be very demanding. It’s fair to wonder how long Saban will continue in the role. (Yes, Lee Corso, who turns 90 in August, remains a CGD fixture, but not without some questions. And does anyone think Saban is in for that kind of longevity?)
So how long will Saban go in his new role? His longtime SEC foil and now ESPN colleague, Paul Finebaum, recently addressed that issue on the Saturday Down South podcast.
“Television is a weird deal,” Finebaum said. “It’s a little bit like a new car, where you drive off the lot and you feel great, then a year later it doesn’t look so new anymore. I don’t think that’s a big deal for him. But, I think after a while, television wears everyone down. I think it will get to him as well.”
That “will get to him” remark is very ambiguous. It certainly doesn’t mean Saban is leaving anytime soon. Finebaum could just be inferring Saban will need a nap now and then to deal with the workload.
Podcast host Connor O’Gara asked Finebaum if he’d offered Saban any broadcasting advice.
“I did say something to him at one point before he got on the air that everything he said would be under a microscope,” Finebaum said. “And I think Saban acted like, ‘Well, everything I do is under a microscope.’ But I don’t think he understood, quite frankly, that predictions, idle comments, would metastasize in the aggregation world. My guess is he was non-plussed a couple of times by what happened.
“But he’s done such a good job, and he’s a needed voice. I think maybe we also give him too much credit. I think I will pull out my last remaining hair out the next time a coach suggests Nick Saban as czar of college football. It’s not going to happen.”
