“Put His Finger Out”: ESPN’s Rece Davis Recalls Awkward Nick Saban Interaction That Left Him in a Tough Spot

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After retiring from his legendary coaching career as one of the best college football coaches ever, former Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban transitioned to a media career with ESPN. As expected, the transition was not as smooth as the switch from one team to another; therefore, he had his share of rookie mistakes. Talking about his early days in the media, host of ESPN’s ‘College GameDay’ Rece Davis revealed one of those awkward moments he had with Saban on air.

“I don’t think he’ll get mad if I tell this one. It was pretty good,” Davis told Ben Flanagan on Alabama Crimson Tide on the AL.com YouTube channel. “Nick, in the early going, his first year, he would put his finger out, tap his finger out, if you wanted back in, sort of a non-verbal ‘I’ve got something else I’d like to add here.’ And it’s Nick Saban. It’s going to be brilliant. I mean, it’s going to be worthy, but I think we were at Texas for the Georgia-Texas game one year, and he put his finger out, and I waved him off and went on to the next thing or whatever. We go to break, and he goes, ‘Hey man, I have my finger out.’ I said, ‘I know. I saw it.’ He goes, ‘Well, I had something else that I think would be good.’

“And I’m like, ‘I’m sure it was, but you know, hold on to it, and we’re going to come back and talk about this game there.’ I had to go. But like, there was the expectation there at that time, but to show how smart he is and how adaptable and what a good teammate he is, he was like, “Oh, okay. I got it.” You know, because his initial thing was, “Well, he didn’t realize I wanted back in. I had something really good to say.”

Following Nick Saban’s retirement from Alabama in January 2024 after 17 seasons, he signed withESPN the following month. His deal with ESPN saw him join host Rece Davis, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, and Pat McAfee on College GameDay. Of the group, Saban is the host/analyst with the least media experience.

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Davis has over three decades of experience in journalism and broadcasting, which is almost the same as Kirk Herbstreit. Desmond Howard is over two decades into sports media, while McAfee has spent roughly a decade.

Becoming a media personality was something Saban never envisioned for himself, which made his adjustment a little better. He once made a joke about how he spent his coaching career evading people who made predictions and asked hypothetical questions, only to end up being one. Until he joined ESPN, he only made routine guest appearances as a coach.

Despite the tough transition, Saban is very open-minded and teachable. Aside from Rece Davis’ claims, Kirk Herbstreit has also spoken about Saban’s willingness to learn. In an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show, Herbstreit was asked if Saban could take corrections.

Responding, Herbstreit revealed that Saban “wants to be coached like he’s a player. He’s like, ‘Don’t just tell me what I want to hear. I want to get better at this.’”

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