81 Y/O Nick Saban's mom once teased Alabama's HC amid a serious spring practice session, calling him personally to boast about a golf shot
Alabama coach Nick Saban has become a legendary and almost mythical figure in college football due to his extraordinary achievements as the coach with the most national championships in the history of the sport.
He is known as a tough customer during practice. To him, that time is sacred. But even Saban can do nothing when his mother decides to interrupt practice with a funny piece of news.
As reported by Brett McMurphy of Action News, the incident happened during a practice session in 2013 when Mary Saban called during spring practice.
“She says, ‘Brother’ — everyone from West Virginia calls each other ‘brother’ — ‘Brother, I just wanted to let you know I just made a hole-in-one and you’ve never made one,’” Nick Saban said. “Yes, she really called me during practice to tell me she made a hole-in-one.”
According to McMurphy, since then, the fiercely competitive Nick Saban has sunk two holes-in-one.
Has Nick Saban mellowed?
Saban is known for being tough-talking and brusque with reporters who ask questions that he doesn't want to answer. There has been a noted mellowing of his demeanor lately.
It has been noted that Saban has seemed to become more accommodating and he even apologized to a reporter whom he snapped at after Saturday's win over Middle Tennessee.
“You didn’t ask a bad question the other night," Saban said. "I just didn’t answer it very well. When a guy plays well in a game at any position, it should help his confidence and it should help him perform better in the future.
“But I do think that every player has to understand that just because I played well, I still want to try to improve the few things I could’ve done better."
In 2018, when reporters kept asking him about his quarterback options, Tua Tagovailoa and Jalen Hurts, he controversially shut down now-NBC sportscaster Maria Taylor.
"Well, I still like both guys. I think both guys are good players," Saban told Taylor. "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."
Although he said that he had called her afterward to apologize, the public apology to Austin Hannon of Bama Central might just signal that the legendary Alabama coach is mellowing.