Shane Gillis details confrontational interaction with Nick Saban at Notre Dame vs. Indiana game

Shane Gillis knows how to push buttons. He does it for a living as one of the most popular shock-jock comedians in the game today.

But one particular viral interaction with former Alabama head coach Nick Saban on the set of ESPN’s College GameDay ahead of the Dec. 20 Notre Dame–Indiana College Football Playoff game appears to have even caught Gillis by surprise.

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“I was just joking around. I don’t think the SEC paid players, ever,” Gillis deadpanned on the set. “I’m joking. Is this not a fun show? A serious show? Alabama Jones (Saban) is very serious. Get the whip, Indy!”

After initially claiming he wasn’t serious, Saban proceeded to defend the SEC’s integrity against Gillis’ perceived slander: “That’s how we ‘cheated,’ we developed players.”

The entire GameDay set erupted with laughter, but Gillis, a former offensive tackle at Army, knew he’d struck a nerve with Saban.

Saban has since explained his side of the viral moment on a Dec. 27 appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, adding his daughter Kristen “loves” Gillis. Now, Gillis has revealed what really went down behind the scenes, including a tense off-air moment where Saban allegedly scolded the comedian for his comments.

This makes Shane Gillis vs Nick Saban even funnier 🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/l19jfjPZvP

— Joe Ostrowski (@JoeOstrowski) January 9, 2025

“I’d like to explain that,” Gillis said on Wednesday’s episode of Matt and Shane’s Secret Podcast with fellow comedian Matt McCusker. “So after I said (the SEC cheated), we had to go into the stadium and sit at the desk, which (Saban) wasn’t with us when I said it the first time. So when I got in there, right before we go on, he looks at me and was like, ‘I heard what you said!’ and I was like, ‘Holy shit.’ And (Kirk) Herbstreit and McAfee were like, ‘He’s just breaking your balls. He loves messing with guys. He’s literally just f***ing with you.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, alright. I’ll f*** with him back. We can f*** around.’

“I would have never done that if I thought he was serious. But they told me he was f***ing around, so I started f***ing with him,” Gillis continued. “Then as soon as we get done, I tell Herbstreit and McAfee, ‘Bro, he’s definitely serious.’ And they were like, ‘No way he was serious, go talk to him.’ So I went up to him after and he was like, ‘You think the SEC dominated because we cheated? That’s bullshit!’ He spazzed on me.”

Gillis’ interaction with Saban didn’t end there, because the 73-year-old former coach still needed to get off the elevated GameDay stage, and required Gillis’ help to do so.

“He was still on the stage and I was on the field, so after he yelled at me, I had to help him down, and he like looked around to see if anybody else could help him and I had to help him down,” Gillis added. “I felt really bad about that.”