No, Nick Saban Is Never Gonna Stop Preemptively Jumping Down A Sideline Reporter's Throat, SO QUIT ASKING!
If you know you know with that headline, but yeah, Nick Saban is at it again, this time ripping CBS sideline reporter Jenny Dell for asking the Alabama head coach about how his team responded to quarterback Bryce Young's injury.
Except Saban only decided to hear the setup to her bottom-line inquiry, prompting yet another testy exchange that could've been avoided by simply being present and engaging like a genuine human being would.
I could make some cliched "can't teach an old dog new tricks" joke when it comes to Saban pretending to offer even a smidgen of respect to someone trying to do their job — and giving him exactly the type of question he's looking for. I could also be all smug and poke fun at Saban for how much of a miserable bastard he must be to treat other people this way.
But hey, that's how Saban rolls. His monomaniacal football obsession and competitive and greedy qualities have helped him built an imperial football factory in Tuscaloosa. Saban wins the natty roughly every other year, chews out anyone he wants wherever and whenever he wants, and keeps rolling merrily along. Or not so merrily. Even when he's up by 30 points, Saban finds something to be irate about. Guess you gotta keep everyone on their toes/living in terror/whatever or else you're not doing your job. Guess that works in college football. Just ask Urban Meyer! HAHA!
Advertisement
Seriously, credit Jenny Dell for handling this like a pro. She was graceful with Saban's dismissive halftime chat, which did revolve more specifically around Young's injured shoulder. I think once Saban heard the top of Dell's postgame interview, he saw CRIMSON RED, the train had left the station and he'd made his mind up about how he was gonna react. Classic. Don't you love people like that? Such a delight to be around.
In case you don't know what the headline is referring to, here's the much more meme-able gem of Saban getting irked about the QB controversy between Jalen Hurts and Tua Tagovailoa some years back, where he didn't want to say anything about one of of them, as it might be construed as a sign of disrespect toward the other.
Twitter @MattFitz_gerald/TikTok