Nick Saban’s retirement after 17 years at Alabama came as a huge shock to much of the college football world. But it turns out that we’re still going to see plenty of Saban on Saturdays.
In a statement that seemed inevitable, ESPN announced Wednesday that Saban would be joining the College GameDay crew as an analyst alongside Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, Lee Corso and Pat McAfee. Rece Davis will remain the host of ESPN’s famed pregame show.
Nick Saban joins ESPN as a @CollegeGameDay analyst
Alongside host Rece Davis & analysts Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard & Pat McAfee at the desk
The 7x National Champion head coach will also appear on NFL Draft & SEC Media Days coverage
🔗 https://t.co/MtFTWpsCsO pic.twitter.com/bYC6nG8gnq
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) February 7, 2024
From the moment Saban announced his retirement, it seemed obvious that he was going to make a move to TV. It was only a matter of if Saban would take some time off before jumping into a broadcasting role, but the seven-time champion appears ready to go for this upcoming season.
Saban has made guest appearances with GameDay in the past and was generally well received. College football fans were also pleased with the addition.
This was how Twitter reacted
We still get to see Saban every Saturday this fall. 😍🙏 https://t.co/154ejScR5N
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) February 7, 2024
Saw this coming (along with everyone else who pays attention to sports media) from a mile away. This is such an incredible hire and now an already great show gets even better. https://t.co/WpNXnVd98y
— David Lauterbach (@Lauterbach__) February 7, 2024
I still get to watch the GOAT every Saturday in the fallpic.twitter.com/83Li3bSRsH https://t.co/uNM1llwI8j
— Riley (@Ri_S_OB) February 7, 2024
Best news I've gotten since Jan. 10. https://t.co/NhxzqbpmgX
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) February 7, 2024
See you again soon, Coach! 👋 https://t.co/VoipfieHyb
— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) February 7, 2024
This is awesome. I can’t imagine this sport without Nick Saban in any capacity, and he’s going to absolutely blow our minds with his knowledge of the game https://t.co/FgCZhPqJRl
— Morgan Moriarty (@Morgan_Moriarty) February 7, 2024
We really couldn't have gotten rid of Pat McAfee or Lee Corso to make room for this? https://t.co/1DoGsF3U2m
— Ryan Emmons (@emmonsaggie) February 7, 2024
He will be good at this. Great to have him still involved with the sport. https://t.co/XMHPop1uaI
— Adam Luckett (@AdamLuckettKSR) February 7, 2024
Certainly not unexpected, but still very good news for GameDay. https://t.co/yylT1Texet
— Dave Weekley (@weekley) February 7, 2024
