DALLAS — Nick Saban is still a coach at heart. Some elements of his job, from a technical standpoint, haven’t changed in how he’s around the game of football six months post-retirement. For the 17th consecutive year, he’s at SEC media days, and like his first in 2007 he’s one of the biggest storylines — he’s just doing it from a different seat.
“I think this thing that I’m doing now, (working as a broadcaster for ESPN) keeps me involved in the game,” Saban said on Wednesday. “I watch film, I make my own evaluations of players, etc. So the technical aspects of the game I still do to some degree. The biggest thing I miss is the relationships with the people, the players, the coaches, the staff and all the people that you work with being a part of a team.
“But I also got to the point where it was difficult for me to sustain things the way I needed to sustain them to be satisfied with myself that I was doing a good job. So last year was hard, I said maybe it’s time for somebody else. And I don’t regret that.”
Saban spent a couple of hundred hours preparing for ESPN’s NFL Draft broadcast in which he analyzed the first three rounds — “I didn’t prepare for the Draft any differently than sitting in the Draft room with the Miami Dolphins,” he noted. How did he prepare for SEC media days? By calling every coach in the conference and watching every team’s spring game.
Saban will be a regular on “College GameDay” this fall. He has always fielded questions and criticisms from the media over his years as a coach, but now, he’s on the other side.
“I still view this from a coach’s perspective,” Saban said. “I just happen to not have a team. I want to be objective but I don’t want to be controversial. You could take any decision in any situation that anybody makes and make it controversial.
“If we go for it on fourth-and-3 you’ll have 100,000 people in Alabama say I’m glad he’s going for it and we would have 100,000 people say he’s a dumbass for going for it. So you could take that and make it controversial. I would rather be objective about why somebody is doing something relative to the score of the game, the circumstance in the game or whatever.”
GO DEEPER
Nick Saban to join College GameDay cast as analyst
This week at SEC media days has allowed Saban to interact with coaches differently. Lane Kiffin and Kirby Smart, former Saban assistants-turned-competitors at their respective schools, have their guards down on the TV set and share fond memories now that they’re no longer opponents. Smart noted Saban is utilizing text messages for the first time since retirement. He, Kiffin and Saban have a group chat.
“I’m texting but no punctuation yet,” Saban said with a smile.
Nick Saban has never been a big texter, but in retirement he will answer the texts.
Kirby Smart on Saban actually answering his texts now. pic.twitter.com/YbywAqV3Zw— Maria Martin (@Ria_Martin) July 16, 2024
Baby steps.
Elsewhere, Saban’s golf game has improved with more free time, though he hasn’t added any more holes-in-one to his resume (he has two total). That aspect, and any other part of his life moving forward is largely influenced by his wife Terry — affectionately known as “Miss Terry”.
“I try golf at 7:30 in the morning so I get home at 11:30,” Saban said. “I can’t get to the ninth hole without getting a text of this is what I want you to do, like all the chores you have, at least let me finish my round. So you’d have to ask her.”
Where else Saban’s reach will carry in college athletics is to be determined. Whether it’s more trips to Capitol Hill to advocate for the future of college sports, continuing to ascend on television or perhaps taking on the role as the first college football commissioner should that position ever come, it’s clear Saban will be affiliated with the game. It’s who he is, retirement in one field won’t stop his influence in some other way.
“I’m going to try to continue to be an advocate for the game from wherever I sit,” Saban said.
(Photo: Rob Schumacher / The Republic / USA Today)
