Nick Saban Takes Over SEC Media Days From New Position: Former Coach Talks Broadcasting, Golf, and More

DALLAS — Nick Saban is still a coach at heart. Some elements of his job, from a technical standpoint, haven’t changed in the way he approaches the game of football six months after retiring. He’s attending SEC media days for the 17th straight year, and just like his first one in 2007, he’s one of the biggest stories — he’s just doing it from a different seat.

“I think what I’m doing now (working as an announcer for ESPN) keeps me involved in the game,” Saban said Wednesday. “I watch film, I do my own evaluations of players, etc. So the technical aspects of the game, I still do it to some extent. 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 as part of a team.

“But I also got to the point where it was hard for me to keep doing things the way I needed to keep doing them to be happy with myself and that I was doing well. So last year was tough, I said maybe it was time for someone else. And I don’t regret that.”

Saban spent a few hundred hours preparing for ESPN’s NFL Draft broadcast, analyzing the first three rounds — “I didn’t prepare for the draft any differently than I did when I was 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 guest on “College GameDay” this fall. He has always faced questions and criticism from the media during his years as a coach, but now he’s on the other side.

“I still look at this from a coach’s perspective,” Saban said. “I just don’t have a team. I want to be objective, but I don’t want to be controversial. You can take any decision in any situation that someone makes and make it controversial.

“If we go for it on fourth-and-3, you’ve got 100,000 people in Alabama saying I’m glad he’s going for it and then you’ve got 100,000 people saying he’s an idiot for going for it. So you could take that and make it controversial. I’d rather be objective about why someone does something relative to the score of the game, the circumstances of the game or whatever.”

GO DEEPER

Nick Saban Joins the Cast of College GameDay as Analyst

This week at SEC media days, Saban has given himself the opportunity to interact with coaches differently. Lane Kiffin and Kirby Smart, former Saban assistants who are now competitors at their respective schools, are on the air, sharing fond memories now that they’re no longer opponents. Smart noted that Saban is using text messages for the first time since his retirement. He, Kiffin and Saban have a group chat.

“I’m sending a text message, but there’s no punctuation in it yet,” Saban said with a smile.

Nick Saban never used to text much, but now that he’s retired, he’ll answer the messages.
Kirby Smart on Saban actually responding to his text messages now. photo.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 another hole-in-one to his resume (he has two total). That aspect, and every other part of his life moving forward, is largely influenced by his wife, Terry — affectionately known as “Miss Terry.”

“I try to play golf at 7:30 in the morning, so I’m home by 11:30,” Saban said. “I can’t get to the ninth hole without getting a text saying this is what I want you to do, like all the chores you have, at least let me finish my round. So you should ask her.”

Where Saban will continue to have an impact on college athletics remains to be seen. Whether it’s more trips to Capitol Hill to advocate for the future of college sports, continuing to rise on television or perhaps taking on the role of the first college football commissioner if that position ever comes, it’s clear that Saban will be tied to the game. It’s who he is, and retirement in one field won’t stop his influence in another.

“I will try to continue to be an advocate for the game wherever I am,” Saban said.

(Photo: Rob Schumacher/The Republic/USA Today)