Nick Saban said two things in 5 seconds that stunned college football fans

While everyone knows that Nick Saban knows football, the former coach and now ESPN analyst might have surprised with his comments on College GameDay. Saban clearly aspires to know not only football, but also wrestling. He dropped a hilarious catch phrase in promotion of ESPN's upcoming WWE event.

Saban says

John Cena. You can't see me.
Nick Saban

Maybe it loses something in translation to the page, but Pat McAfee, at whom Saban directed his comment, clearly got the joke and was amused by what Saban said and the familiar five-finger across the face gesture that accompanied the slogan. It was a College GameDay highlight, with McAfee going against Saban by picking Lesner.

“JOHN CENA YOU CAN’T SEE ME” 😂😂

Coach Saban #CollegeGameDay https://t.co/R6yhwajPM8 pic.twitter.com/lgSRrTYLY7
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) September 20, 2025

ESPN's expansion into WWE

ESPN has extended its reach to WWE shortly after dumping baseball from its usual programming. With the network soon to air WWE Wrestlepalooza on Saturday evening, the panel of pickers for ESPN's College GameDay were asked to weigh in on Wrestlepalooza's major event: Brock Lesnar versus John Cena.

Cena's story

Cena, who is 48 years old, has been in WWE since 2002. Early in his career he developed the "you can't see me" gesture to riff on his supposed invisibility. Cena even titled a rap album You Can't See Me in 2005. For that matter, Cena has been willing to expand his brand into a veritable world of opportunities, including acting in films.

This isn't to say that Cena is just a money-making machine. He has drawn notoriety for his lengthy and successful work with the Make-A-Wish program. In 2020, he made a $1 Million donation to Black Lives Matter.

As for ESPN, the network is clearly seeking big ratings with its expansion into the world of WWE. Cena and Lesnar have been two of the biggest names in wrestling for years, and having the two fight each other in the opening production has only enhanced the significance of the moment. If anybody doubted that, seeing the septugenarian football wizard Nick Saban drop his pick via a hilarious slogan should have clarified the situation. Plenty of people will see John Cena, even if Nick Saban jokingly said otherwise.