Legendary Alabama head coach Nick Saban saw it all while he patrolled the sidelines. That included a few trips to Nashville to face the Vanderbilt Commodores. While Saban retired earlier this year, the former Crimson Tide head coach does not appear to have done a complete about-face on Vandy.
Saban joined The Pat McAfee Show for his weekly spot ahead of College GameDay on Saturday. Saban discussed SEC environments with McAfee, and eventually landed on Vanderbilt, but had choice words about the Commodore faithful.
“The only place you play in the SEC that’s not hard to play is Vanderbilt,” Saban said on the show, via a post from Mike Rodak. “When you play at Vanderbilt, you have more fans there than they have.”
“That’s no disrespect to them; that’s just the truth,” Saban clarified.
Nick Saban on @PatMcAfeeShow: “The only place you play in the SEC that’s not hard to play is Vanderbilt. When you play at Vanderbilt, you have more fans there than they have. That’s no disrespect to them, that’s just the truth.”
— Mike Rodak (@mikerodak) September 20, 2024
That’s a tough pill to swallow for Vanderbilt fans, but attendance figures and factors simply don’t go in their favor here. The former Alabama coach is correct in his assessment.
Vandy will play the Missouri Tigers out in Columbia on Saturday afternoon. The Tide will play the Commodores then on October 5th. Meanwhile, you’ll be able to catch Saban and McAfee on College GameDay Saturday morning on ESPN.
