Nick Saban just shared his thoughts on covering the NFL Draft months after announcing his retirement from coaching. While speaking to reporters at the 2024 Regions Tradition Pro-Am on Wednesday, the former Alabama Crimson Tide head coach was asked about being on the broadcast team for the draft and if he’ll do it regularly.
“You know, I did enjoy it. It’s a lot of preparation,”Saban said. “Enjoyed the team that we were with and got a lot of good direction, learned a lot. It’s challenging, something new. That’s some of the stuff that we were looking forward to. One of the things that I look forward to now is since I’m one of you, I can ask the questions.”
Saban was part of the broadcast team that covered the first and second days of the draft on ABC. The team included Rece Davis, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, Field Yates, Laura Rutledge and Pete Thamel. On the College GameDay podcast, Davis and Thamel reflected on how Saban did in his draft debut. Davis was impressed by the way Saban talked about the players as they were selected.
“I’ll give you an example without calling a name, and you probably heard this a couple times in our meeting: He referenced things that were perhaps shortcomings of players who were highly rated in the draft order,” Davis said. “And he said, ‘But I’m not sure about saying this on TV.’ So afterwards he and I talked a little bit. And I’m not trying to take any credit for this, but I encouraged him to look for ways to say it, because those are the things we need to hear from the greatest college coach of all and that I felt as if he could do it in a way that wouldn’t sort of rain on the player’s draft day, which is something he was cognizant of, which I think showed great feel.”
It’s now clear Saban if will continue to cover the draft, but his broacasting career is just begining. Earlier this year, ESPN announced the 72-year-old will serve as an analyst on ESPN’s College GameDay.
“ESPN and College GameDay have played such an important role in the growth of college football, and I’m honored to have the opportunity to join their team,” Saban said in a statement. “I’ll do my best to offer additional insights and perspectives to contribute to College GameDay, the ultimate Saturday tradition for college football fans.”
On3’s Andrew Graham contributed to this story.
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