Former Alabama head football coach Nick Saban is set to make his ESPN on-air debut for ABC‘s coverage of the 2024 NFL Draft on April 25 and 26, the network announced Monday.
Saban will be joined by Rece Davis, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, Field Yates, Laura Rutledge and Pete Thamel.
It was previously announced in February that Saban, who retired from coaching in January, would be joining ESPN as an analyst on “College GameDay.” Come this fall, college football fans will see Saban popping up at several campuses across the country for the show. But for now, NFL fans will be able to hear his analysis on the top prospects of this year’s draft.
“ESPN and College GameDay have played such an important role in the growth of college football, and I’m honored to have the opportunity to join their team,” Saban in a February press release. “I’ll do my best to offer additional insights and perspectives to contribute to College GameDay, the ultimate Saturday tradition for college football fans.”
Saban, 72, stepped away from coaching after spending the last 16 years at Alabama. He led the Crimson Tide to a 201-29 record and six national championships. Saban will be succeeded at Alabama by Kalen DeBoer. DeBoer took the Alabama job after leading Washington to a College Football Playoff National Championship Game appearance this past season.
Nick Saban talks Miss Terry, retirement at the Masters: ‘If I do my chores, then I can go play golf’
Saban, appearing on ESPN live from the 2024 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club this past Friday, said he’s currently abiding by the “12 commandments of retirement.”
“The best thing is I spent 50 years being in a hurry and didn’t even know it” Saban said. “So, when I retired and sat back and didn’t have so many things to do, I figured out that that wasn’t normal. This kind of life is a little more normal. Even though I’m staying busy and looking forward to ESPN, doing the draft, doing [College] GameDay, … I’m kind of staying busy. I didn’t really want to quit working. But I just didn’t want to ride the program down because of my age. And didn’t really want to work all the time.
“You know, the day after I retired, I got the 12 Commandments of retirement. So, I’ve tried to live by them. But I’ve found out if I do my chores, then I can go play golf. So, I get up early and get my chores done and it’s like, ‘Now do I have a free pass to do what I want to do?’ [laughs] I make my bed, I take the garbage out, I have to wait for her to eat together and I have to leave a little food just because that’s polite to tell people that you really thought it was good. Which I grew up cleaning my plate, so that’s not kosher anymore.”
The post Nick Saban to make ESPN debut on 2024 NFL Draft coverage appeared first on On3.
