Nick Saban gives telling answer on continuing call-in show, hosting with journalists

This week, Nick Saban will prepare for another year of “Hey Coach and The Nick Saban Show” when it returns to the airwaves. During the show, the Alabama coach fields questions via phone calls and people attending the show in-person, which makes for a variety of opinions.

In his Wednesday press conference, he shared why he still takes questions on the show, especially considering he’s one of the only coaches to do so.

Saban pointed to the way people view him and how he handles himself in front of the media — just one week after he made sure to smile and say “thank you” after meeting with reporters. He wants to make sure fans know he’s approachable and willing to talk with them, whether they think things are going well or not.

Odds are, he said, he agrees with them either way.

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“I think that most of you all, including the person asking the question, sort of think I’m not approachable. And I don’t think that’s the case at all,” Saban told reporters. “So one of the things that I’ve always found the radio show to give me an opportunity to do is to allow people to approach me and see how approachable I am. So we let people at the venue ask questions, we let call-in people ask questions. I think it’s a good thing for me to see some of the media people that are actually hosts on the show, I get to know them a little bit better. They see a little different side of me, I see a little different side of them.

“So I think it’s nothing but sort of an opportunity to build positive relationships and sometimes you get a bad call, but sometimes we deserve a bad call. Sometimes, I don’t think we did very well either, so why should somebody out there not think we [didn’t do] something very well? I’m not offended by people who call in. I think it’s an opportunity for them to approach me and me to have respect for them and how they support the program.”

In fact, Saban picked up where he left off last week when his press conference ended Wednesday. After his media training coach told him he should smile more, and he continued to do so a week later.

“That’s it?” Saban asked. “So I get to say, ‘thank you,’ and smile again? I’m loving it.”