Ha Ha Clinton-Dix retells what led to Nick Saban's scolding on first day back at Alabama

No one in the Alabama football program is immune to the infamous Nick Saban “ass chewings.” Not players, not staffers, and certainly not assistant coaches. It’s a lesson former Alabama safety and new director of player development Ha Ha Clinton-Dix was reintroduced to quite quickly in his new role.

Clinton-Dix reportedly drew the ire of Saban on his first day on the job, an encounter he recalled in a conversation with Touchdown Alabama. Clinton-Dix isn’t holding anything against his former coach and current boss — it all comes with the territory.

“I just got my first ass chewing the other day. So Coach ain’t tripping on none of that. He ain’t lost a step in that. He’s still gets red in the face and be about to blow. But when I say that, I’m just saying he’s giving more examples to why we should be doing things,” Clinton-Dix said.

As the conversation progressed, Clinton-Dix shared some more details. The scolding came in front of the entire team, Clinton-Dix said, but that can send a message on it’s own. When players see Saban dressing down an assistant coach, it makes it clear that no one in the program is immune to getting an earful from the head coach.

“He was just giving me a warm welcome, that’s all. He’s letting me know I’m here,” Clinton-Dix said. “That ain’t the first and it ain’t going to be the last, I can tell you that now.”

New Alabama staffer Ha Ha Clinton-Dix jokes about first butt-chewing from Nick Saban

This week, Clinton-Dix officially started as Alabama’s director of player development as he gets into college coaching. It didn’t take him long to go through a rite of passage in Tuscaloosa.

He got his first butt-chewing from Saban.

“1st day on the Job I got a Ass Chewing from Coach Saban,” Clinton-Dix tweeted Tuesday morning. “1 down 5 million to go.”

Clinton-Dix retired from the NFL in December after signing a one-day contract with the Green Bay Packers. The Packers drafted him with the No. 21 overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft and he played in the league until 2021. He’s now trying to get into college coaching and will serve as the director of player development at his alma mater.

Getting yelled at by Saban is a tradition like no other for his staffers. In fact, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said it happened to him shortly after he took over as offensive coordinator.

When Sarkisian came back to Alabama in 2019, he was transitioning from two years as the Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator. As he adjusted, he had to try to balance putting his touch on Saban’s offense and catering to the players’ strengths. That’s when a practice took a turn — and Saban’s straw hat came off.

“We were in training camp year one, so 2019,” Sarkisian told CBS Austin’s Bob Ballou. “I was new back as a coordinator, so I was implementing some things to go along with the offense that was in place. He was asking for a specific formation, and I could not get it right. I was calling formations based off of how I know them. He wanted to make sure that I knew that they were learning some of my new stuff and that I needed to learn their way, as well.

“The straw hat flew, the practice stopped and I was kind of stuck out in the middle of the field thinking, ‘Man, I just want to get this stupid formation right and get him off my ass.’ Anyway, you’ve never coached at Alabama if you haven’t gotten your ass ripped by Coach Saban. I got a good ass-chewing from him.”