Shane Gillis said he had a fiery off-camera interaction with Nick Saban after the comedian called the legendary Alabama coach a cheater on ESPN’s “College Gameday” last month.
Gillis was first confronted by the coach after he told Pat McAfee and Kirk Herbstreit that the Crimson Tide only dominated because they were cheating by paying their players while others did not.
“After I said that, we had to go into the stadium to sit at the desk, and I got in there, and he [Saban] was like, ‘I heard what you said.’ And I was like, ‘holy s–t,’ and then McAfee and Herbstreit were like, ‘He’s just breaking your balls, dude,” Gillis, who was a guest picker for ESPN, said on the “Talk of the Town” podcast.
“He loves messing with guys. Like he’s literally just f–king with you,’ and I was like, ‘Oh, alright. I’ll f–k with him back.’”
Gillis did just that in the following segment that was before the first CFP game between Notre Dame and Indiana in South Bend.
“I don’t think the SEC paid players ever. Is this not a fun show? Is this a serious show? Alabama Jones is looking very serious,” Gillis said sarcastically during the Dec. 20 broadcast with a red-faced Saban sporting an Indiana Jones style-hat.
Saban replied, “I do believe in integrity and ran a program that way… that is how we cheated, we developed players.”
After that viral interaction, Gillis had little doubt that Saban was actually upset.
“And then as soon as we get done, I tell Herbstreit and McAfee, I’m like, ‘Bro, he was definitely serious.’ And they’re like, ‘No way he was serious. Go talk to him,’” Gillis hilariously recalled.
It did not go as Herbstreit and McAfee predicted.
“So I went up to him [Saban] after he was like, ‘You think the SEC dominated cause we cheated? That’s bulls–t.’ He spazzed on me,” Gillis said.
“After he yelled at me, I had to help him down [off the stage], and he looked around to see if anyone else could help him, but I had to help him.”
Saban, 73, led Alabama from 2007-2023, winning seven national titles in his time.