Any coach who works in as many high-profile jobs for as long as Nick Saban is bound to have a few run-ins with the media — the pesky hordes covering his team that both provide opportunities for exposure (and therefore money) while also creating the dreaded “distractions” and outside narratives that coaches hate.

The popular notion that Saban “hates the media” really isn’t true, since for the most part he has shown a remarkable aptitude for manipulating the media and using it to his advantage.

Still, in the wake of Monday’s “rant” at the press that tried to “bury” his squad, it is worth taking a quick look at his notable media moments during his tenure at Alabama. Before we begin, two quick things:

  • I decided to focus on Saban’s Alabama tenure for this particular piece, so we won’t get anything from his days at LSU, or all the times he hectored the press in Miami.
  • This list was compiled almost entirely from memory and a little bit of googling, so if I missed anything (or remembered anything incorrectly), please feel free to let us know in the comments section.

2007

  • In January of that year, shortly after taking the Alabama job, Saban is wrapping up media availability with reporters in Tuscaloosa; apparently thinking he was done talking on the record, the new Alabama head coach tells a funny story that includes the word “coonass,” an epithet typically used to describe Cajun folks that’s alternately used as an insult and a term of endearment. Saban sort of halfheartedly apologizes, saying he was taken out of context.
  • In November — after his team went from vying for first place in the SEC West to losing three straight, including an embarrassing home loss to Louisiana-Monroe — Saban foolishly compares the loss to September 11 and Pearl Harbor, saying that sometimes “catastrophic events” are necessary to shift focus (or something).

In the same presser, he upbraids a reporter (I think it was Paul Gattis from Huntsville), “Don’t stutter.”

2008

  • The night the Saban Machine at Alabama was born was Aug. 31 of this year, when Saban’s Tide went to the Georgia Dome in Atlanta and thumped a regarded Clemson team. For reasons that weren’t entirely clear, Saban ranted afterwards about it being “only one game” and complaining about fans who regard themselves too highly.

2009

• Do NOT ask Nick Saban about sacks, man.

Note: There is no stat in the NFL that shows sacks “contribute to winning,” but there are a number of pro defensive ends who have bonuses built into their contracts based on the number of sacks they accrue.

2010

  • During his session at SEC Media Days in July, Saban works himself into a lather discussing unscrupulous agents, due in no small part to an offseason scandal that ensnared (among others) defensive tackle Marcel Dareus (Dareus wound up serving a three-game suspension).
  • “I don’t think it’s anything but greed that’s creating it right now on behalf of the agents. The agents that do this — and I hate to say this, but how are they any better than a pimp?
  • “I have no respect for people who do that to young people. None. How would you feel if they did it to your child?”

2011

  • In the midst of an otherwise-tranquil season, Saban storms out of a press conference prior to his team’s game against Tennessee after he finds himself rankled by a reporter’s question at the possibility that the Alabama-Tennessee series might end (due to impending conference expansion).
  • “You all create so many problems. I hate to start on this, but whether guys are going out for the draft that shouldn’t even be thinking about that right now. Whether we’re worrying about the Heisman Trophy, now we’re worrying about playing Missouri rather than Tennessee some time down the road. I could give a s*** about all that, excuse my French.”
  • “I mean, come on. Let’s talk about the game. What year are we talking about when we’re not gonna play Tennessee — 2025? I’m just hoping I can still go to the lake then, still can walk around and go on a pontoon boat ride.”

He walks out of the press conference; two days later he basically warns the assembled press corps not to ask him about anything that isn’t strictly related to the game at hand.

2012

After a relatively dull midseason win over Mississippi, Saban complains in postgame about the Rebels’ up-tempo offense (under first-year head coach Hugh Freeze).

  • “I think that’s something that can be looked at. It’s obviously created a tremendous advantage for the offense when teams are scoring 70 points and we’re averaging 49.5 points a game. With people that do those kinds of things. More and more people are going to do it.
  • “I just think there’s got to be some sense of fairness in terms of asking, ‘Is this what we want football to be?'”

Note: The football universe apparently answered, “For the love of God, yes,” and Saban eventually embraced a modified version of it by hiring Lane Kiffin.

2013

Prior to a September showdown with Texas A&M, some news breaks about (now former) Alabama offensive lineman D.J. Fluker and potential NCAA violations. Saban, predictably, is uninterested in discussing the issue.

Note: To my knowledge and meager research, nothing ever came of this particular investigation.

2014

Coming off a two-week period that included an upset loss at Ole Miss and a painful 14-13 victory at Arkansas, Saban takes umbrage at the (apparent) lack of enthusiasm in the fan base after the win.