Shane Gillis Reveals What Sparked His Feud With Nick Saban: “Would’ve Never Done That If I Thought He Was Serious”

Shane Gillis and Nick Saban being rivals is the story that absolutely no one saw coming. It all started when the popular stand-up comedian was chosen to be the "Guest Picker" on ESPN's College GameDay program. Gillis is known to be a fan of Notre Dame, and that week, the Fighting Irish were matched up against the Indiana Hoosiers. So it made sense that Shane Gillis was there, but the feud that sparked between the comedian and the 7-time National Championship winning coach was not expected at all. Things became heated and uncomfortable when Gillis accused Nick Saban of cheating and paying players before NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) was introduced to college sports. Just before the College GameDay crew made their picks for the week, Gillis even tried to apologize for insinuating that Alabama paid their players: “I was just joking around. I don’t think the SEC paid players… ever. I’m joking. Is this not a fun show? This is a serious show. Alabama Jones is very serious.” Gillis called Saban “Alabama Jones because of the hat that we wore with his cold weather outfit. That definitely wasn’t Saban’s favorite joke, but he really disliked that the comedian was saying he cheated while he was at Alabama. Coach Saban responded with this: “I do believe in integrity. I always tried to run a program that way so players had a better chance to be successful in life. We make more money in the NFL than any other school. 61 players in the league. That was how we cheated. We developed players.” https://twitter.com/PatMcAfeeShow/status/1870270961083187479?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1870270961083187479%7Ctwgr%5E4000abcf00ff55c61a86a2cffdac07ee641ac358%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.whiskeyriff.com%2F2024%2F12%2F27%2Fnick-saban-reacts-to-feud-with-comedian-shane-gillis-my-daughter-loves-him-so-at-least-somebody-in-our-family-likes-the-guy%2F Many thought the back-and-forth jabbing was just for TV and entertainment purposes... but it wasn't. Saban was legitimately upset with Shane Gillis, and later confirmed that on The Pat McAfee Show. It was while he was on there that Saban admitted that his daughter was a big fan of the comedian, which soothed his soul because, as he said, at least "somebody in our family likes the guy.” That was the last we had heard of the tension between Gillis and Saban, that is until the latest episode of Matt and Shane's Secret Podcast was released. Early on in the episode, Gillis explained that he only went at Nick Saban because he was incredibly nervous fulfilling his guest picker role on the College GameDay program: "I get so nervous on those things. That's why I freaked out and talked sh*t to Nick Saban. Because he was like, 'What do you think about the game?' And I was like, 'I don't know... f**king Nick Saban cheated.' It was just a full freak out." The comedian was just trying to make some light-hearted jabs at the former Alabama football coach, and soon found out that Saban wasn't finding his jokes very funny. Actually, he wasn't seeing the humor in them at all, as Gillis quickly found out: "After I said that, we had to go into the stadium to sit at the desk. Saban wasn't with us when I said it the first time. So I got in there and right before we go on, he looks at me and says, 'I heard what you said.' And I was like, 'Holy sh*t.'  Then Kirk Herbstreit and Pat McAfee were like, 'He's just breaking your balls dude. He loves messing with guys. He's literally just f**king with you.' So I said, 'Oh, alright. I'll f**k with him back. We can f**k around.' I would have never done that if I thought he was serious." That was horrible, misguided advice from Herbstreit and McAfee. Nick Saban actually was upset, and his co-hosts weren't able to see that. After the segment concluded, Gillis checked in with his constituents once more, and they once again played it down and told the comedian to just go talk with the former football coach off air. So Gillis did, and this is how it went: "As soon as we get done, I tell Herbstreit and McAfee, 'Bro, he was definitely serious.' And they were like, 'No way he was serious. Go talk to him.' So I went up to him afterwards and he said, 'You think the SEC dominated because we cheated? That's bull sh*t.' He was still on the stage and I was on the field, so after he yelled at me, I had to help him down. But yeah, I felt really bad about that." You can hear more about the feud no one saw coming in Episode 540 of Matt and Shane's Secret Podcast: https://youtu.be/QgKLN9Jzq5Q?si=Lnbem3hs3KWArtn4&t=187