College football is going to look a little different this season for Nick Saban.
The legendary football coach has traded in his headset for another, transitioning from coaching at Alabama to being an analyst talking about the sport he contributed so much to. ESPN. As the 2024 college football season kicks off with a Saturday game schedule for the first time, the “College GameDay” crew gathered in College Station, with Saban joining as a panelist for today's broadcast ahead of tonight's marquee matchups. Notre Dame and Texas A&M.
And this living legend seemed to be enjoying every moment of it.
One such moment came when Saban was talking about player composition in the current state of college football, a moment that had producers reaching for the mute button, FCC sensors raising eyebrows and Kirk Herbstreit speculating that Saban might have broken the internet.
“You keep talking about $20 million rosters. If you don't pay the right players, you're out of luck.” – Nick Saban
“Congratulations, you just broke the Internet.” – Kirk Herbstreit pic.twitter.com/MfGXau6gyh
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 31, 2024
Later in the broadcast, Saban praised Dirk Koetter, noting that Koetter had always tried to recruit him at Alabama, which led to an incredulous one-liner from Pat McAfee, with Saban quipping about “low budgets.”
“Dirk Koetter is one of the offensive coordinators I tried to hire at Alabama for a long time but never got around to it. He's in Boise. I think he'll do a great job.” – Nick Saban
“Coach, that's because you spent all your money on the players” – Pat McAfee pic.twitter.com/y0E8X2RgUY
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 31, 2024
The show ended with the customary predictions for the featured game, Notre Dame vs. Texas A&M, which included a shirtless McAfee, Lee Corso dressed as a leprechaun and Saban, who admitted that the show was “a lot of fun.”
College GameDay in College Station ends with…
* Shirtless Pat McAfee
*Guest picker Johnny Manziel
* Lee Corso dances in a leprechaun costume
* Nick Saban (being hugged by a shirtless McAfee): “This is the first time I've ever done anything like this. This is so much fun.” pic.twitter.com/DjKmYO4XwP— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 31, 2024
If this is only the first week of the season, imagine what's in store.
