Nick Saban gives poignant message on teachers, jokes about upbringing

Alabama head coach Nick Saban took time on Wednesday to share how important his family believes teachers are in life, sharing a few personal stories. Saban and his wife, well known as Miss Terry, are preparing to host the 10th Annual Teacher Excellence Awards — a celebration of teachers by the Nick’s Kids Foundation.

Nick Saban on the importance of teachers

During his weekly press conference, Saban was asked if there was a specific teacher in his life that he remembers for their impact on his growth. Saban took the chance to not just thank one teacher in his life, but to mention multiple teachers he had by name — praising their work as more important to him than they know.

“I had … I remember a lot of them man. I can tell you every teacher I had in every grade,” started Saban. “Because most of the time I wasn’t doing what I was supposed to do, so I was always getting corrected. And all those corrections did make a difference. Ms. Helminski gave me a D in music for not standing up and singing, so that was probably the best thing I ever learned about the importance of education. Because my dad made me turn my basketball uniform in, took me down to the coal mine [and] said this is where you’re gonna end up when you don’t get an education. So I remember her.

“Ms. Matthews was my senior English teacher and she was a teacher that was a little bit like what I talked about earlier. She didn’t teach everyone the same, which I think is important because everybody has different interests and a passion and we should bring that out in those people, regardless what it is. So that they have a better chance to be successful in life and those relationships are very beneficial.”

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Saban then demonstrated how important his teachers were to him by naming every teacher he had in order from first grade. The long-time leader explained that each one taught him things that stick with him to this day — including the painful lessons he earned.

“[My English teacher] in English class, where I couldn’t get — what do you call that, verbs and all that? I couldn’t get that right. I can still see her jumping me.

“I remember Mr. Ezel giving me a whipping for doing something. And when I got a whipping, I got a whipping when I got home. A’ight, so I got two whippings. I got the paddle in school and then my dad got me at home. So, all those things contributed to helping me better make better choices and decisions, you know, in my life … I can just go on, and on, and on with the teachers and they all had a significant impact on my life and I certainly appreciate them more than they know.”