ESPN
Shane Gillis had some fun at Nick Saban’s expense during his recent appearance on College GameDay, and the legendary coach wasted no time defending his honor. It’s been a week, but it doesn’t sound like the former Alabama skipper has gotten over the joke based on what he had to say while chatting with Pat McAfee.
College GameDay headed to South Bend last Friday ahead of the College Football Playoff showdown between Notre Dame and Indiana, and the program opted to tap Shane Gillis to serve as the honorary guest picker.
It was a solid pick when you consider the comedian is not only a lifelong Notre Dame fan but a former linebacker who initially committed to play for Army before spending a season as a member of the football team at Elon University, and there was little doubt he’d be able to inject plenty of laughs into the broadcast alongside the slightly more experienced members of the College GameDay panel.
That includes Nick Saban, who found himself on the receiving end of a joke Gillis cracked while asserting other football teams have been able to join SEC programs (including Alabama) he implied were paying players prior to the advent of the NIL Era.
Saban didn’t exactly take the comment in stride, as Gillis stressed he was just joking around before the longtime Crimson Tide coach outlined the legitimate ways he transformed Alabama into one of the most legendary dynasties in the history of college football.
On Friday, Saban got the chance to circle back to that interaction on The Pat McAfee Show after a clip from the upcoming season of Gillis’ Netflix series Tires provided a natural segue for a conversation concerning that fairly awkward exchange.
While I don’t want to read too much into Saban’s response, it’s pretty clear the barb is still eating at him a little bit, as he once again stressed the many non-monetary reasons he was able to recruit top players to Alabama while acknowledging Gillis was “trying to be funny” (with emphasis on “trying”) before capping things off with a solid mic drop stemming from his daughter’s affinity for the comedian.
“I understand that Shane Gillis is a comedian and he was trying to be funny..
My daughter loves him so at least somebody in our family likes the guy” 😂😂 ~ Coach Saban#PMSLive https://t.co/xqVBj2uhIS pic.twitter.com/c5h9VOKv9c
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) December 27, 2024
If ESPN knows what it’s doing, Gillis will be invited back to College GameDay next season, as it will be passing up a golden opportunity by not giving the two men another chance to interact.