Nick Saban dives into relationship with Ken Griffey Jr, challenges on golf course

After dominating headlines for his controversial statement and subsequent back-and-forth with Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher, Alabama head coach Nick Saban looked to turn focus away from the feud by talking golf at the PGA Championship. As always, even his short stories turn into an answer on how to improve while playing football.

During an appearance on ESPN+ alongside new ESPN personality Joe Buck and golf expert Michael Collins, Nick Saban took a deeper dive into his recent Augusta National round with Ken Griffey Jr.

“Well obviously I wanted him to be my partner,” said Saban. “I think that’s the key to the drill is how you set up the game on the first tee. And for me, being a pretty average player, it’s always advantageous to have a good partner.”

Continuing to think about his approach on the golf course, Saban went on to describe how his experience can translate to how he and his staff teach players the game of football.

“I think when you’re an amateur like me – and this is one of the things I’ve learned from golf too and we carry it to football – is I’m so focused on the technical aspects of the golf swing or trying to make contact with the ball,” said Saban. “Sometimes you don’t strategically look at the situation that you need to. So you make mental errors. And I think those mental errors carry over into other sports that – it’s not just the technical aspects, it’s not just what you do and how you do it – but it’s why it’s important to do it in a certain situation. That’s something we try to teach our players, that I learned in golf as well.”

Nick Saban on Ken Griffey Jr

Last week on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning Nick Saban revealed which club he had the most confidence in, and Ken Griffey Jr can attest to the incorrect answer after Tuesday.

“It ain’t putter, I can promise you that,” said Saban. “I just played Augusta yesterday with Ken Griffey Jr., and he was my partner…”

Cut off by the hosts, who could not believe how quickly Saban moved past Griffey Jr. and their shared tee time at one of the world’s most prestigious golf courses, asked about the relationship between the two.

“I’ve met him a couple times and he has a couple of sons that were prospects,” said Saban. “I got to meet him along the way. But he’s a really good guy and really good golfer, and we had a lot of fun. But I had not – most of the time people complain about three-putts – but when you have multiple four-putts, that’s something you don’t even want to talk about.”

Saban has become a regular at Augusta National over the years, both in attendance for The Masters and as a player who makes the occasional appearance.