The global leader in recruiting coaches and former players has made many notable hires over the years, but Nick Saban is in a class of his own.
ESPN’s multiple management stints have never hidden their desire to bring Saban into their orbit, and I recall an August 2014 report of Saban’s admiration for ESPN employees during a long conversation at the Langham Hotel in Pasadena, Calif., the day before the national championship. game. the NFL It’s ESPN’s most important property, but in many ways, it’s what makes college sports ESPN go.
Saban, who was forever repped by CAA, the talent agency with an office at ESPN’s headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut, was clearly fascinated by broadcasting, and ESPN finally got its man last February. Think Tommy Lee Jones stalking Harrison Ford in The Fugitive, except that story ends with Ford getting a multi-million dollar deal to talk about college football.
Saban was in the middle of a “College GameDay” program set Monday night in Atlanta as part of a two-hour pregame show. He also pulled halftime duties. The now iconic show revolves around Pat McAfee, who brings energy and unpredictability, and Saban, who is tasked with bringing gravitas.
Saban provided that in his inaugural year. Monday night in Atlanta, showing a nice early transcript of the pregame:
“The most important thing in games like this is who can keep the main thing the main thing,” Saban said. “There’s a lot of disruption when you’re playing in the national championship game. You’re traveling at a different time. You’re training in a different place. You have more media obligations. Everyone has won three big games. Both teams won a big game last week.”
“How do they deal with the idea of ’Am I relieved that we’ve gotten to this point or am I going to go for the gold?'” People remember ‘Miracle on Ice’. We beat Russia, and that was how everyone remembers it. We had to beat Finland the next week (Editor’s note: That was actually two days later) To win the gold, someone has to step up tonight and win the gold.
What GameDay has lacked for a few years is someone right off the field, whether a player or a coach, and that’s where Saban has been important. Broadcasters only influence viewership for a rare few (maybe Howard Cosell and Charles Barkley), and I’m not sure Saban falls into that category, but data is data: “College GameDay” averaged 2.2 million viewers during the regular season . , the most watched season ever and an increase of 6 percent from 2023.
Jim Guerro, who has been the lead producer of the “College GameDay” series for the past nine years, said he was intimidated by Saban when he was the former Alabama The coach joined the show for the first time.
“Just because it’s Nick Saban,” Jairo said. “I didn’t really know him that well. I thought he was going to be the same coach yelling at Lane Kiffin and demanding perfection in everything we do. I was definitely intimidated. Now he breaks my chops more than any human being. I’m his punching bag, and it’s fun. It’s funny.” Extremely destructive to the ball.
“He’s always been good on TV, and when the camera’s on, he’s on. So it was about learning things like how to make a point that leads to an XO bar, or where to orient yourself during a conversation.”
“I remember talking to him early in the season, and I said, ‘If you’re going to go to Dez (Desmond Howard) next, make sure you look at Dez.’ He says, “Well, why didn’t you tell me this before?!” I thought to myself, “Well, I didn’t want to give you everything at once.” We’ve added things every week, and he’s improved a lot since the start of the season.
“The thing is, when he makes a comment, everyone listens. He doesn’t have passing comments. There are some analysts who tend to repeat what the participating analysts have just said. It’s almost like an echo. But when he speaks, it’s a unique perspective that no one has ever had before.” “
It’s very intentional to put Saban in the middle of the group, rather than at the end, because Gaiero said it’s easier for the other panelists to interact with him. (You don’t want newcomers on the edge of the group because that makes it difficult for them to fit into the conversation.) Gaiero said GameDay benefited from Saban already knowing all of his members on the air before he became one.
“Our best chemistry moments are the Friday meetings because Nick will tell some stories, and everyone is on the edge of their seats listening,” Jairo said. “It can be something as silly as a recruiting story or a time when he played on that field. He tells the story, and we all laugh, and he laughs and smiles. He says, ‘I don’t know if you guys want that on the show,’ and we’re all like, ‘Oh Oh my god, this is definitely in the show!”
Jaerro said Saban’s best moments this year were His “Nothing” speech from October And when it is He discussed changing his training style From transactional to transformational. (They submitted the latter to the Sports Emmy nomination process.)
The next development for Saban, according to Jairo, is improving his preparation. The producer wants him to talk to as many coaches as possible during the offseason, and of course watch the tape.
The program would be wise in Year 2 to call Saban back on his knees. His resume speaks for itself — there’s no need for on-air actors to over-idolize him. Saban was also at his best when there were fewer people on set. That was the case at 7-7:30 PM ET on Monday, when he appeared prominently alongside McAfee, Howard and host Rhys Davies.
“He now knows what to do on TV,” Jairo said. “Early in the season, we might bring up 30 games on a production call, and he’ll want to know which games I want him to focus on. I told him early on to think of everything like a funnel. We’ll start with a lot of games and teams, and as the weeks go by, some teams will fall into place. By the way because it will no longer be important his preparations can be simplified next year.
“I think he definitely sees himself as a broadcaster now, and he’s seeking feedback to be a better broadcaster. This isn’t just a one- or two-year thing for him.”
(Photo: Butch Dale/Getty Images)
