ESPN’s Rece Davis Shares How Nick Saban Is Already Preparing for Draft, ‘College Gameday’

ESPN’s College GameDay will feature a significant new face this fall, when former Alabama coach Nick Saban joins Rece Davis, Kirk Herbstreit, Lee Corso and the rest of the show’s lineup every Saturday.

Saban may be retired from coaching, but it should surprise no one that he is already taking his new job very seriously. Ahead of his first big ESPN assignment—the 2024 NFL draft—Saban has started preparing for how he will breakdown player highlights and film on the broadcast. 

During the College GameDay podcast on Wednesday, Davis discussed the addition of Saban to the show, and shared an anecdote from a recent production meeting where Saban went into great detail about potential ways he can analyze players during the draft.  

“He’s thinking of it already in terms of would he be recruiting the player,” Davis said. “From his days in the NFL, whether he would sign this player, draft this player, whatever it might be. And I think it’s really going to really give an added dimension to our show and certainly a different perspective from someone who’s accomplished what he has as a coach in recent years.”

Nick Saban has been a frequent guest on ‘College GameDay,’ and in 2024 he will work for the show full-time after retiring from Alabama.

Jonathan Mailhes/IMAGO

Saban doesn’t only bring those analysis chops, though. College GameDay is as successful as it is in large part because of the chemistry between those on set. Davis thinks that the world is going to get to know Saban’s wry sense of humor that should fit well on the show.

“The one thing I think that people have seen glimpses of, but I think they’re going to see a lot more of in addition to remarkable X and O insight, they’re going to see this guy has a really good sense of humor,” Davis said. “Now it’s a dry wit and a low-key wit and it’s a chop-busting wit, and I think that it’s going to play perfectly on that set.”

ESPN’s Pete Thamel, who hosts the podcast with Davis, credits Pat McAfee with helping bring Saban out of shell a bit during their weekly interviews on The Pat McAfee Show. While he has plenty of familiarity with his new ESPN teammates already, McAfee could give Saban a familiar personality to bounce off of, as a current member of the College GameDay cast. 

McAfee put his own GameDay future in doubt back in October, but later indicated that he’ll return for 2024. Davis and Thamel discussing his relationship with Saban suggests that they expect him back.

“I really feel like the magnetism of those two is going to be a lot of fun to watch,” Thamel said.