Nick Saban hasn’t been in the media long, but he’s already finding ways to unnerve fanbases nationwide.
After forgetting his credentials and being denied entry at the SEC Media Days at the Omni Hotel in Dallas, Texas, Saban did one short of doing the “Horns Down” to the Texas Longhorns faithful.
The former Alabama Crimson Tide head coach turned ESPN college football analyst opined that he was tickled about all these people asking questions about how Texas always ran their conference.
“They’re not gonna run the SEC,” Saban said. “There’s a whole lot of arrogant people in a lot of places in the SEC, so forget all about that. They’ll be a good team and a great program, and Sark will do a great job. But, that’s not gonna be a problem.”
That was Saban’s way of saying that not only is Texas not back, but they aren’t in Kansas anymore — or playing Kansas anymore — either. Long are the days that is Texas running roughshod over the Big 12. The SEC is an entirely different animal, but if anyone knows that, it’s Saban’s former offensive coordinator and current Texas head coach, Steve Sarkisian.
While the program enters a daunting new era, and Saban doesn’t think they’ll have their way in the SEC, there’s also a bit of irony here. Perhaps Saban is playing chess and not checkers in making the aforementioned comments and then predicting that Texas would play for an SEC Championship against the Georgia Bulldogs.
If that’s the case, we have every reason to believe that Texas will make the College Football Playoff for a second consecutive season, this time in the era of the expanded CFP.
Regardless, there’s no love lost between Saban and Texas fans. And that’s even with the Hall of Fame coach waxing poetic about the program’s state, even if he doesn’t think they’ll run through the SEC like they did the Big 12 for years.
That distinction had belonged to Oklahoma, Baylor, TCU, Kansas State, and Oklahoma State between 2010 and 22. Texas hadn’t won the Big 12 before 2009 before last season and hadn’t been to the Big 12 Championship Game since a 41-13 2012 loss to OU.
Only time will tell if Texas can live up to Saban’s (backhanded) prediction and thrive in the SEC.
[On3]
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.