How Nick Saban ‘humanized’ himself, provided valuable insight during 2024 NFL Draft coverage

Nick Saban may have retired from coaching college football, but the former Alabama Crimson Tide leader was around the game on Thursday, part of ESPN’s 2024 NFL Draft coverage.

He impressed On3’s Andy Staples and Phillip Dukes, who couldn’t get enough of Saban’s insight. During the latest episode of Andy Staples On3 on YouTube, the duo explained what made Saban a special addition to the NFL Draft coverage.

“I was flipping around. So, I watched some of Saban. I watched some NFL Network. I watched some of The Pat McAfee Show, with Bill Belichick. But Saban was awesome,” Staples prefaced. “And how about when Quinyon Mitchell gets picked, he goes, ‘We wanted him out in the portal, but he wouldn’t go into the portal.’”

Even though Dukes is a proclaimed Auburn Tigers guy, he has a ton of respect for the legend, and pointed out some moments on the broadcast that Saban was in phenomenal form.

“Hey, man, I love Coach Saban. You know I’m an Auburn guy, but Coach Saban is good. And then that moment was so real to me, because they knew. And then all the when he talked about guys that he actually had the game plan against, like hearing him talk about the game plan for Jayden Daniels you just say and, ‘I was just looking up at the ceiling at night. He had me shook.’ Hearing Nick Saban kind of humanize himself, that was so cool to me,” Dukes stated. “Because when you think about it, he’s probably on the Mount Olympus of coaching, period, not just college coaches.

“So you know, hearing him talk about what worried him, and what he saw in these players and the draftees, I thought that was awesome. Great pick up by ABC.”

One example that stood out to Staples was Saban’s response when former Alabama defender Dallas Turner was selected, as the former Crimson Tide leader put perfectly how Turner could be used in the NFL.

“When he was talking about Dallas Turner, and a guy he coached. Like, he was explaining the difference between Dallas Turner and Will Anderson. He was playing explaining the difference between Dallas Turner and other defensive ends, edge rushers he’s had, and he’s like, ‘Dallas Turner could be Dont’a Hightower in another era.’ And it’s like, ‘Oh, okay. Now I understand.’ Because he’s, and he’s explaining how Dallas Turner can be used differently in the NFL than maybe they used him, because they had different needs and different personnel. But that was so much fun.

“Hearing him explain all that, explaining what speed to power means, because he used that term a few times, and then Rece Davis was like, ‘Okay, what does that term mean?’ And then he explains it perfectly, like showing with the video. Which you think about this, that’s what the man did for 40 years, is they’re showing the video every day to the players, ‘Here’s how, here’s what you’re doing wrong. Here’s how you fix it.’ He’s great at making that digestible, like you understand how he was so good at getting the players to understand what they were doing, because he can make the average person, who doesn’t really know that much about football understand it, in like five seconds.”

Moreover, Dukes believes it shows why Saban was such a fantastic recruiter, as his ability to explain the game of football to the average listener is second to none.

“You can see why he was so good at recruiting, because there’s a certain patience in the pace that he uses when he explains,” Dukes added. “Like, it’s almost like he’s holding your hand through it. And when you think about Nick Saban, you don’t think of ‘Oh, Nick’s gonna hold my hand,’ you think about somebody chewing you out.

“But the way he explains things, like even when he talked about Nate Wiggins last night, and he will say and how Nate has all these tools and he was like, and he kind of, he told you what he needed to work on without bashing the kid, right? He’s like, ‘Hey man, he has a little stiffness, but I think that can be worked out.’ Or he said ‘It’s got to mature just a tad,’ you know, and I like the way he did that.” 

Nick Saban may be retired, but he isn’t straying far from the game of football, and that’s phenomenal news for the fans of the sport as a whole.