Nick Saban’s ESPN debut is almost here.

Saban rocked the college football world with his decision to retire from coaching in January. In February, ESPN announced that he had joined the network as a college football analyst, primarily on College GameDay. Saban’s ESPN debut will be made on April 25, the first day of the 2024 NFL Draft.

ESPN is promoting “five hours of wall-to-wall live studio show programming from Detroit” before the Chicago Bears are on the clock with the first pick of the draft Thursday, April 25. The studio show coverage begins with NFL Live and is followed by College GameDay and NFL Draft Countdown. Round 1 begins at 8 p.m. ET.

GameDay is set for 5-7 p.m. ET Thursday, ahead of Round 1, and 5-6 p.m. Friday before Round 2. Saban will join returning GameDay crew members Rece Davis, Kirk Herbstreit and Desmond Howard for both editions. Pat McAfee will only be on Thursday’s GameDay.

Saban, Davis, Herbstreit and Howard will be featured on ABC’s draft coverage for Thursday and Friday. The GameDay analysts will be joined by ESPN’s Field Yates, Laura Rutledge and Pete Thamel.

For Saturday’s Rounds 4-7, the ESPN presentation with Mike Greenberg, Mel Kiper Jr., Booger McFarland, Louis Riddick, Molly McGrath and Adam Schefter will be simulcast on ABC.

Saban will add extra insight for top Alabama prospects

Football fans of all stripes are interested in hearing Saban put on his analyst cap working for ESPN. Alabama fans will be particularly interested to hear from the long-time head coach when discussing his former players.

Under Saban, Alabama had a strong presence annually in the first round of the NFL Draft. That’s expected to be the case again in 2024.

Dallas Turner is considered one of the top prospects in the 2024 draft after 3 seasons of playing for Saban.

At the NFL Mock Draft Database, Turner has long been a projected top-10 pick. At DraftKings, Turner is the favorite to go No. 8, priced at +210 for a $100 bet to win $210 for a $310 payout. As a top-10 pick, not tied to any specific spot, DraftKings currently has Turner at -160, meaning a $160 bet would be needed to win $100.

DraftKings also has lines on JC Latham and Terrion Arnold as potential top-10 picks.

Since April 10, Latham has ranged from No. 10 to No. 31 in media projections, according to the NFL Mock Draft Database. Bettors who like Latham to go high can get him at +600 to be a top-10 pick at DraftKings. At those odds, a $100 winning bet would pay out $700.

Terrion Arnold is another Saban-coached Bama standout projected to go in the first round, based on the latest from the mock draft database.

Those who see Arnold as a top-10 pick have a chance to win some money. DraftKings has Arnold priced at +1100 to go in the first 10 draft selections. If Arnold goes top 10, a $100 bet would turn into a $1200 payout.