Nick Saban is not one to sugarcoat his opinion. On this weekend’s episode of ESPN’s “College GameDay,” the topic of the Ohio State-Michigan flag-planting controversy resurfaced, and Saban’s thoughts on the matter are hardly surprising.
The controversy involves a brawl that took place between players from the Ohio State Buckeyes and Michigan Wolverines after the latter attempted to plant their flag at Ohio Stadium’s midfield following their upset win. The Big Ten Conference fined the Buckeyes and the Wolverines $100,000 for violating the “Big Ten Sportsmanship Policy.”
Nick Saban Advises Big Ten Conference To ‘Protect the Brand’
When asked his opinion on the flag-planting controversy, Saban was quick to highlight the problem with the Big Ten’s response to the brawl.
“First of all, I think we need guidelines. To fine these schools $100,000 is like worrying about mouse manure when you’re up to ears in elephant sh**,” Saban said bluntly.
Co-host Kirk Herbstreit could hardly keep a straight face as he struggled to hold in his laughter. Shortly after, Nick Saban took a more serious tone as he expanded on his comment.
“Players want to be paid, which they are being paid now, then they have to do something to protect the brand. The NFL protects its brand. So when you do something like this that’s bad for the game, you have to learn how to protect the brand, show sportsmanship so people can identify with the game in a positive way.”
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Nick Saban Predicts Outcome of SEC Championship Game
Saban along with the College GameDay crew and “Dune” actor Timothée Chamalet were live ahead of the SEC Championship Game between the Texas Longhorns and the Georgia Bulldogs.
During the show, Saban gave his take on which team would emerge victorious in the top-five showdown. Both sides met early in the season with Georgia walking away with the 30-15 victory.
Saban’s true opinion would have been well-thought-of considering the head coaches from both teams worked with him as assistant coaches at Alabama. However, the former Alabama head coach refused to take sides, preferring to leave things up to a coin toss.
“I flipped a coin on this one last time because I didn’t want to pick against either one of the guys that did a great job of coaching for me. So I’m staying with the coin toss again. It came up Texas, and I am coming up Texas again today.”
Ultimately, Saban’s former disciple Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs came out on top over the Texas Longhorns in the first overtime in SEC title game history, 22-19. The Bulldogs became the first team to beat the Longhorns twice in the same season in the last century.
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