Nick Saban responds to jokes from Tyler Booker, Malachi Moore: 'None of that surprises me'

As Alabama took over the Omni Dallas Hotel for SEC Media Days on Wednesday, the GOAT watched closely. Nick Saban – in Day 3 of SEC Network coverage – was in the building as Kalen DeBoer took the podium.

Throughout the day, the Crimson Tide’s player representatives discussed what it’s like seeing Saban on TV instead of in the building. One of the more memorable quotes came from Tyler Booker, who called Saban out for “playing golf all day” and making predictions. Malachi Moore also joked about how much the legendary coach is smiling now that he’s on TV.

After the dust settled on Wednesday’s press conference, Saban responded. The SEC Now crew showed him clips of the two players making their jokes, and he had a perfect reaction.

“None of that surprises me,” Saban said with a laugh. “As soon as I saw the face of the guy doing the talking, I knew exactly what he was gonna say.”

Booker’s quip was in response to a rare prediction from Saban, which came at the start of SEC Media Days in his second assignment for ESPN. He said Georgia and Texas would be in the conference title game, with Alabama on the outside looking in.

Booker received a question about that pick. In his answer, he pulled from a line Saban used to use around the facility and turned the tables.

“Coach Saban always taught me not to pay attention to external voices,” Booker said at the podium Wednesday at SEC Media Days. “He always used to say, ‘Don’t let some guy that lives in their mom’s basement determine how you feel.’ So I’m not gonna let some guy who plays golf all day determine how I feel. I’m not too worried about it because he’s an external factor now. He works at the stadium, not the facility.”

Now that Nick Saban is in the media world – a role which will only grow when College GameDay returns this fall – he’s now dishing out the “rat poison” he so often talked about. Moore said he hears it, and also sees more smiles from the GOAT when the cameras are rolling.

“I think Coach Saban did a good job of putting a little bit of rat poison out there this week,” Moore told Alyssa Lang. “But nah, he’s been doing good.

“This is the time I’ve definitely seen him smile, the most I’ve ever seen him smile. Yeah, I’m glad Coach can kind of relax a little bit.”