Rece Davis reveals ‘College GameDay’ crew flew on Nick Saban’s private jet between CFP games

Rece Davis doesn’t like to brag, but when Jonathan Zaslow and Amber Wilson tracked him down on ESPN Radio’s College Football Campus Tour, the College GameDay host couldn’t help revealing how the crew traveled between playoff sites.

From the Fiesta Bowl in Arizona to the Peach Bowl in Atlanta, the College GameDay team caught a ride on Nick Saban’s private jet.

“I can, but people won’t like it just simply because it sounds like you’re bragging,” Davis said when asked about their travel arrangements. “We went on Saban’s plane. It was like, I think at one point we hit better than 700 miles per hour. We were sailing.”

 

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The speed came with a tradeoff. Without internet access at 40,000 feet, Davis and the crew had to get creative to follow the action they were missing on the ground.

“The one thing we didn’t have was internet access, so we were going up and calling towers ahead so we were getting reports,” Davis explained. “I came back and ended up watching the second half once they got back to the hotel.”

The passenger list for the flight included Saban, Davis, betting analyst Stanford Steve Coughlin, college football insider Pete Thamel, analyst Desmond Howard, Andy Milam (who works for Saban), and Mario Mayles, whom Davis said “takes care of things for them.”

Saban joined College GameDay full-time in 2024 after retiring from Alabama following a legendary coaching career that included seven national championships. His transition to television has brought not just his football expertise to the desk, but apparently his private aviation as well.

Davis and the crew will be back on the road for the CFP National Championship in Atlanta on Monday, Jan. 20, though he didn’t say whether Saban’s jet would be joining them.