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Nick Saban takes jab at Shane Gillis following memorable College GameDay interaction
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Nick Saban is wrapping up his first season as a member of College GameDay. The legendary coach seamlessly fits in with the crew, and most people enjoy his presence on the show.
Last weekend, the GameDay crew was in South Bend for the Indiana-Notre Dame matchup. Comedian Shane Gillis was the guest picker and joined the crew to discuss the weekend’s matchups. At points, Gillis accused Saban of illegally paying players when he was the coach at Alabama and also poked fun at the coach’s attire.
At the time, Saban didn’t seem to enjoy the digs and appeared annoyed by Gillis. Nick Saban joined the Pat McAfee Show on Friday and was asked about the encounter. McAfee asked the coach if he had done any research on Gillis or spoken to him since.
“Not at all. Not at all,” said Saban, responding to the question of whether he’d talked to Gillis. “I understand he’s a comedian, obviously he was much more intimidated by J.J. Watt than he was by me. He was trying to be funny, which, I get it.”
“My daughter loves him,” admitted the coach. “So that kinda soothes the soul a little bit that someone in our family likes the guy.”
The coach laughed as he said this, so clearly it’s not all hard feelings between the duo. Gillis has blown up recently and released his first comedy special in 2021. The comedian currently stars in the Netflix series “Tires,” which he co-created.
Here’s a clip of Saban’s segment on the Pat McAfee Show:
Saban also mentioned that he didn’t like the integrity of his players being questioned which is why he got annoyed.
“We were trying to create value for players and I think that’s why we got the players we got,” explained Saban. “So that speaks for itself and that’s all there is to it.”
McAfee ended the segment by expressing his desire for Saban and Gillis to reunite eventually.
Bryce Lazenby covers college football for Saturday Down South. A Nashville native, his previous stops include FanSided, Dimers, and The Leaf-Chronicle.
