5 incidents involving Nick Saban that shocked college football fans
Alabama Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban has been a part of the college football scene for as long as one can remember.
Beginning his journey as early as 1973 as a graduate assistant for Kent State, Saban has spent decades coaching players and gearing them up to play professionally in the NFL.
Nick Saban is most widely known for the way he turned the fortunes of Alabama after joining them as their coach in 2007. He has led them to six national championships and established them as one of the strongest teams in college football.
Star NFL players like Jalen Hurts, Tua Tagovailoa, and many others playing under the legendary coach, have gone on to establish successful careers in the league.
Given the time Saban has spent in the college football scene, he has also been a part of many moments that have shocked CFB fans and turned them into ones of reminiscence. Here are the top Nick Saban incidents that shocked fans.
Top shocking moments of Nick Saban
Here are the top five:
#5 Saban's 'Quit Asking' statement for the Tagovailoa-Hurts debate
In 2018, the Alabama QB room had both Tua Tagovailoa and Jalen Hurts as options on the field.
During that season, Alabama played Louisville and dismantled them on the gridiron. After the game, a reporter named Maria Taylor questioned Nick Saban about what he felt about both his quarterbacks who played that game.
Saban had a harsh response and was quick to shut down the comparison between Tagovailoa and Hurts.
"Well, I still like both guys. I think both guys are good players. I think both guys can help our team , all right? So why do you continually try to get me to say something that doesn't respect one of them? I'm not going to. So quit asking", Saban said.
After the interview, Saban received a lot of criticism for the way he handled that question. He later reportedly apologized to Taylor for his behavior.
#4 Saban called out the media after their loss to Ole Miss in 2015
In 2015, many believed that Saban's triumph with Alabama had come to an end, as they had lost twice to Ole Miss in two years. However, they eventually went on to win their next game against the Georgia Bulldogs. After their loss to Ole Miss, Alabama dropped from No. 8 to No. 12 in the AP rankings.
After the win against Georgia, Saban was on fire during the press conference and lashed out at reporters who ruled Alabama out.
"It's not going to be for you! The fans, yes. Because if it was up to you, we're 6 feet under already. We're dead and buried and gone ! Gone!" Saban said.
Alabama went on to win the national championship that year.
#3 Nick Saban broke his headset because of multiple offensive penalties in the 2018 Orange Bowl
It's inevitable that emotions get the best of any coach, especially when it's a game that's highly competitive. Such an incident happened in the 2018 Orange Bowl between Alabama and Oklahoma.
Before halftime, Saban's team had committed three pre-snap offensive penalties on the Oklahoma 15-yard line.
Nick Saban lost it when RB Damien Harris had a false start. He got so angry with his team's mistakes that he smashed his headset onto the ground, breaking it.
#2 Nick Saban called out Texas A&M for buying players to join their team
Last year, the Alabama coach did not shy away from talking about how Texas A&M recruited and bought players through NIL deals to their team. They were already criticized for using money to recruit top-class players to their program.
Saban went on to compare how Alabama came second in recruiting while not following the monetary strategies used by Texas A&M.
"You read about it, you know who they are. We were second in recruiting last year. A&M was first. A&M bought every player on their team. Made a deal for name, image and likeness.
"We didn't buy one player. But I don't know if we're going to be able to sustain that in the future, because more and more people are doing it", Saban said.
#1 Saban's famous 'Rat Poison' metaphor
Nick Saban famously refers to media chatter and positive reporting as rat poison. The reason behind that is that sometimes, the news sounds too good to be true and could end up distracting his players from their goals.
Saban believes in going from checkpoint to checkpoint and not focusing on the ultimate goal. Thus, this infamous 'Rat Poison' metaphor is something you can hear from him from time to time.