Brad Nessler, Jenny Dell look back on final 'Hey Coach' radio shows with Nick Saban

INDIANAPOLIS – On Oct. 19, 2023, Jenny Dell took her seat next to Eli Gold at Baumhower’s Victory Grille.

It was a Thursday night in Tuscaloosa before a huge game – one that would be during CBS’ coveted 3:30 p.m. ET window. Dell was on the call, alongside Brad Nessler and Gary Danielson, as Alabama took on Tennessee.

But Thursday night of game week was a big night in Tuscaloosa. That’s when Nick Saban did his “Hey Coach” radio show with Gold. As was tradition, the show had a media guest, and Dell got the call that week.

What she, and likely no one else, knew was it would be her last time sitting next to Saban for the show. The legendary coach announced his retirement after the season, capping a 50-year coaching career. Dell looked back fondly on how her time getting to know Saban helped her that night.

“I think the thing about Nick Saban – and, obviously, he’s going to be around forever. He’s not going anywhere when it comes to college football. You have such respect for that man,” Dell told On3 at Big Ten Media Days. “And then, when you get to know him on more of a personal level, the respect just grows even further.

“There’s a trust factor there. … You work so hard to grow a relationship with these coaches so they know that you have pure intentions and you’re also there to do a job, and you’re also a respectful human.”

Brad Nessler: ‘I didn’t see the retirement coming’

After Alabama’s bye week – which coincided with Saban’s birthday, celebrated during Dell’s appearance on the show – CBS again had a Crimson Tide game on its slate. LSU was coming to town Nov. 4, and the Crimson Tide Sports Network once again turned to the broadcast crew for its media guest on “Hey Coach.”

Nessler, CBS’ lead play-by-play broadcaster, took the middle seat for “Hey Coach and the Nick Saban Show” on Nov. 2. But he wasn’t alone. His wife, Nancy, joined him at Baumhower’s that night for the show because she came along for the game. Her seat? Right next to Miss Terry.

A few weeks after Nessler’s appearance on the radio show, he saw Saban again in Atlanta. He was preparing for the SEC Championship, and during a production meeting, the coach had one last thing to say.

As it turned out, while he didn’t realize it at the time, that was the last time Nessler spoke with Saban as an active coach.

“It was weird because I took my wife to that game,” Nessler said. “So she sat with Miss Terry down in front while we did the show. And we all got together a little bit during the timeouts, which Nick always gets up and takes pictures and all that kind of stuff.

“He came in a couple weeks later to the SEC Championship and we’re having our last meeting, and the last thing he physically said to me – and I haven’t seen him since — he was walking out of our meeting, he turned around and he said, ‘By the way, Miss Terry really had fun with Miss Nancy.’ And he turned around and left. That’s the last time I talked to him. So from that standpoint, yeah, I didn’t see the retirement coming.”

‘It’s a different animal we’re looking at right now’

Throughout the 2023 season, fans and reporters noticed a new side of Saban. He was smiling more and making jokes, perhaps signaling the end of his coaching career was nearing. But Nessler saw something different. He saw the toll the changing landscape had on the greatest coach to ever do it.

Considering he works with another coach who left the profession over the last few years, Nessler understood what role that could’ve played in Saban’s decision to step away.

“Over the course of the last year, meeting with him five or six times, you can tell that NIL and the portal, all that stuff – and it’s not just him. I’ve seen it wear on coaches,” Nessler said. “I work with Jay Wright on basketball now. … Coach K got out, Roy Williams got out.

“It’s gonna drain a lot of coaches, I think, from the fun part of it and the teaching part of it and all of that. It’s a different animal we’re looking at right now.”

Of course, Saban’s not leaving the college football world entirely behind. He’ll be a fixture on College GameDay this year alongside Rece Davis, Desmond Howard, Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit and an officially returning Pat McAfee.

But those Thursday nights at Baumhower’s will look a lot different this fall.