Inside ESPN's Nick Saban documentary: What 20 hours of interviews reveal about origins of coaching legend
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Inside ESPN's Nick Saban documentary: What 20 hours of interviews reveal about origins of coaching legend originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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Director Russell Dinallo remembers a team presenting the vision for the six-part “Saban” documentary at Nick and Terry Saban's home in Lake Burton, Ga.
Terry Saban – known affectionately as Miss Terry to college football fans — was carrying most of the conversation. What was Nick Saban doing?
"Coach was a little more quiet," Dinallo told The Sporting News. "He sat there. He had his glasses on and kind of thumbed through the packet and did a lot of listening."
Dinallo didn't need to hear Saban say much to know this was a project worth taking on.
"You feel that presence whenever you are around him," Dinallo said.
"Saban" premieres Thursday at 6 p.m. on ESPN. The documentary features more than 70 interviews. It’s a comprehensive undertaking to tell the story of Saban, who won a national championship at LSU in 2003 before taking a job in the NFL with the Miami Dolphins in 2005. He returned to college football with Alabama in 2007, where he won six national championships before retiring in 2023.
Saban, 74, is now an analyst on ESPN's College GameDay." Lindsay Rovegno, vice president and executive producer for ESPN Originals, has enjoyed watching that side of Saban evolve on television.
"I think during his time on College GameDay, you've really seen him open up," Rovegno told SN. "You've seen him have a lot of fun. He's become part of the cultural zeitgeist, and I think now we're even pushing that further by making him a three-dimensional character as you see him open up through the multiple interviews that Words + Pictures did with him as well as the over 70 voices that were done to sort of round out who he is and where he came from."
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Inside 'Saban' documentary on ESPN
Dinallo – a Maryland alum – considers himself a casual college football fan. He believes the core of the documentary is the story of Saban's upbringing in West Virginia and his relationship with his father Nick Saban Sr.
"There is a really beautiful father-son story at the center of this film," Dinallo said. "It's a thread that really carries throughout. One of the moving parts of coach's story is that he grew up very close to his dad, who was a huge presence in his life and actually played for his Pop Warner team — the Black Diamonds – in West Virginia."
Dinallo told the story of Saban's introduction to coaching as a GA at Kent State after he played defensive back there from 1970-72.
"He coached one game and told his dad, 'Wow, I really like this. It might be something I want to do,'" Dinallo said. "His dad supported it, and before he coached his next game, his father passed away suddenly from a heart attack. It's kind of the cruel irony of this story."
Saban went on to become arguably the greatest college football coach of all time. The documentary explores the coach and the personality behind the success that defined most of the BCS and College Football Playoff eras. The first episode is appropriately titled "The Process."
Dinallo said Saban sat down for more than 20 hours of interviews for the project.
"We wanted to look under the hood of Nick Saban, the coach," Dinallo said. "How does he do things? How does he get these results and reach all these players? This is also the story of Nick Saban the man and painting a portrait of who he is and where he comes from, what drives him, and who the important people in his life are who influenced him."
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"Saban" features interviews with former players, coaches and college football personalities, and Dinallo highlighted the vignettes that will involve 2009 Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram, former Alabama linebacker Rolando McClain and the quarterback dynamic between Jalen Hurts and Tua Tagovailoa. Rovegno enjoyed that episode.
"I think the episode where you really go through his thought process on the Jalen Hurts and Tua back and forth is really fascinating," Rovegno said. "To sort of see behind the scenes, see what he was thinking, see how he was making that decision along the way."
Dinallo reverted back to the third episode, "Black Diamonds," which will show Saban's upbringing in West Virginia with interviews of family, friends and former teachers. Rovegno also said the dynamic between Nick and Terry Saban – who will celebrate their 55th anniversary in December – is explored in detail.
"Miss Terry plays a really big role in his life," Rovegno said. "I think people know that, and she's always been by his side … I think you really see how heavily he leaned on her and how much he valued her opinion and her thoughts. To me, I think that was incredible and another revealing piece of the series."
Dinallo said learning the SEC culture was a rewarding experience, and not just because he now knows more random Alabama football facts. Saban is getting "The Last Dance" treatment – and this documentary should resonate with college football fans.
"The 'Last Dance' is one of the gold standards in this space," Dinallo said. "There haven't been many projects that made more of a mark than that one that did. The hope is there are so many good stories being told – I think you hope you do something that sticks in people's consciousness for a little while."
Rovegno said the series will appeal to college football fans – but it also serves as a "masterclass on leadership."
"You just really learn he's a complex guy that really thought through how he was coaching these young men and what he was bringing to the table," Rovegno said. "Even though he was tough on them, he really inspired them. … You sort of want to run through a brick wall after watching him in this doc series."
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How to watch 'Saban' on ESPN
Dinallo thanked ESPN and Words + Pictures for putting together the documentaries, including Connor Schell, Words + Pictures founder and CEO, and Libby Geist, former ESPN vice president and executive producer of ESPN Films. The team also featured Aaron Cohen, Alexa Conway and Gabe Honig. Tom Rinaldi was a consultant on the project.
Here is the release schedule for the "Saban" documentary (all times ET):
Episode 1 – "The Process": Thursday, Oct. 8,, 6 p.m., ESPN
Episode 2 – "Death Valley": Thursday, Oct. 15, 6 p.m., ESPN
Episode 3 – "Black Diamonds": Tuesday, Oct. 20, 7 p.m., ESPN
Episode 4 – "Home": Tuesday, Oct. 27, 7 p.m., ESPN
Episode 5 – "The Mountain": Thursday, Oct. 29, 6 p.m. ESPN
Episode 6 – "Pride": Thursday, Nov. 5, 6 p.m., ESPN
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