Nick Saban calls ESPN show he co-hosts ‘rat poison’
Nick Saban is one of ESPN‘s premiere college football personalities. He has been featured prominently on College GameDay since 2024, following his retirement from coaching. The network also just released a six-part documentary series about him. Despite their cozy relationship, it wasn’t long ago that he did not seem to like the network at all.
With the show traveling to Tuscaloosa in Week 6 they took a look back at something Saban said about ESPN when he was still coaching the Alabama Crimson Tide. Saban still seemed to agree with himself, simply calling it, “rat poison.”
MORE: Pat McAfee trolls Alabama football fans with ‘College GameDay’ kick twist
“You can listen to me or you can listen to the f—ing guys on ESPN!”
Nick Saban: "It’s rat poison… I used to hate it on Saturday morning… Everybody [on College GameDay] picks us to win. And I know the players are watching that…" Pat McAfee: "Should they listen to people on ESPN now, or no?" Nick Saban: "Hell no." https://t.co/e1fV8Peciw
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 10, 2026
“When I say lock on and lock out I want players to lock out what other people think,” Saban explained. “What other people say. I used to hate it. On Saturday morning and I’m sitting there and we’re playing the game later in the day and everybody here picks us to win and I know the players are watching that. And I’m wondering is that going to affect their psychological disposition toward competing. The intensity they have. How they’re going to play in the game because you think they’re gonna win instead of us having to go out and prove it.”
Asked by McAfee if he still thought anyone should listen to the people on ESPN, Saban said, “Hell no.” McAfee then told him how much he enjoyed the documentary.
MORE: Nick Saban praises Jalen Hurts while explaining 2018 CFP championship QB controversy
It would have been interesting for Saban to talk about what entertainment value the show has for the general public since he doesn’t think football players should be watching. More importantly, his record as a head coach seems to prove that it doesn’t matter who they’re picking to win games on ESPN.
He coached 17 seasons at Alabama and went 206-17 over that period. Either his players weren’t watching everyone at ESPN pick them or it actually didn’t have any affect on them at all.
For what it’s worth, Saban picked Alabama to beat Georgia, as did Desmond Howard and Bryce Young. With McAfee taking George its unclear how this will affect either team.
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Source: sports.yahoo.com — article syndicated from the publisher’s feed; all rights remain with the original publisher.