Getty Image / Tim Warner
For 17 seasons, legend Nick Saban ruled the Alabama Crimson Tide football program with an iron fist as he tallied six national titles in Tuscaloosa and became arguably the sport’s greatest coach of all-time.
But, those days are over, as he retired and former Washington head coach Kalen DeBoer took over in Tuscaloosa. Saban is now a member of the media, working for ESPN, and will be a huge part of College GameDay this fall.
Nick Saban is in Dallas for SEC Media Days along with the rest of the college football world, and he was asked who he thinks will make the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta the first Saturday in December. Remember, there are no longer divisions in the 16-team SEC, as the top two teams in the entire conference will meet in Atlanta.
He did not pick Alabama, a team mostly comprised of players he recruited to T-Town. Instead, he went with a Georgia-Texas rematch, but said that Ole Miss has a real chance to get there as well.
Those are certainly fine picks. Georgia and Texas may be the two highest-ranked teams in the league, in the preseason AP Poll when it comes out, and Ole Miss seriously upgraded their talent from an 11-2 team last year.
Naturally, some Alabama players took exception with Saban’s prognostication, and for good reason. Saban should believe in the guys he recruited! One of those players who had something to say about their former head coach’s opinion was star offensive lineman Tyler Booker.
Booker was asked what he thought about the comments during Alabama’s turn at SEC Media Days on Wednesday,
“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,” Booker quipped.
We know that Saban sure does love to golf. Check out this tidbit shared by former Saban assistant and current Georgia head coach Kirby Smart.
The good news for Booker and his Crimson Tide teammates is that they have plenty of talent to prove Nick Saban wrong and reach the SEC Championship, and go a lot further than that.