Comedian Shane Gillis revealed the heated conversation he had with legendary college football coach Nick Saban after first suggesting the Alabama Crimson Tide cheated the other while he was there, on ESPN’s “College GameDay.”
Gillis spoke at “The talk of the town” podcast, where he clarified what led to the situation where the comedian said that Saban “burned me”.
First, Gillis told Saban’s “College GameDay” co-hosts Pat McAfee and Kirk Herbstreit that he thinks Alabama dominated college football because they paid players before it was legal through NIL contracts.
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Standup comedian Shane Gillis will embark on a global tour in January 2025. (Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for the Bob Woodruff Foundation)
“After I said that, we had to go to the stadium to sit at the table, I went in and he [Saban] it was like, ‘I heard what you said,'” Gillis said. “And I said, ‘Shit,’ and then McAfee and Herbstreit said, ‘He’s just kicking your s—s, man.’
“‘He likes to mess with guys. Like he’s literally just screwing with you,’ and I was like, ‘Oh, okay. I’m going to screw with him back.'”
Saban didn’t take kindly to Gillis’ antics, as the comedian doubled down during his Dec. 20 appearance on the Notre Dame– Indiana College Football Playoff Game.
“I was just kidding. I don’t think the SEC ever paid the players,” Gillis said on the broadcast. Isn’t this a fun show? Is this a serious show? Alabama Jones looks very serious.”
Nick Saban hosts the ESPN College GameDay show before the first round of the College Football Playoff between Notre Dame and Indiana on Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, in South Bend. (Michael Clubb/South Bend Trumpet/USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
“Alabama Jones” referred to Saban, who wore a hat reminiscent of the one worn by Indiana Jones.
Saban fired back at Gillis and must have meant it.
“I believe in honesty. I have always tried to run the program in such a way that the players have a better chance to be successful in life,” Saban said. “We make more money in the NFL than any other school, 61 players in the league. That’s how we cheated. We developed players.”
After the cameras went off, Gillis said Saban was actually upset after McAfee and Herbstreit told him to go talk to him.
“So I went up to him after that, he said, ‘You think the SEC dominated because we cheated? That’s bulls—.’ He turned on me,” Gillis said.
Standup comedian Shane Gillis will embark on a global tour in January 2025. (Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for the Bob Woodruff Foundation)
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Saban is well known for his six national titles during his time in Tuscaloosa as the Crimson Tide became a college football powerhouse. He also led the LSU Tigers to the BCS National Champions Game following the 2003 regular season.
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