SI

Nick Saban Made a Hilarious, NSFW Comparison for Fining Schools Over Postgame Brawls

Saban addressed the slew of brawls that broke out during Rivalry Week, including Michigan at Ohio State.

Dan Lyons

Nick Saban speaks to his College GameDay colleagues in Atlanta ahead of the Georgia-Texas SEC championship game.
Nick Saban speaks to his College GameDay colleagues in Atlanta ahead of the Georgia-Texas SEC championship game. / Via ESPN
In this story:

Nick Saban has been a quality addition to ESPN's College GameDay this season, and was electric on Saturday's edition of the show ahead of the SEC championship between Georgia and Texas.

The former Alabama coach addressed last week's raucous set of rivalry games, which featured a number of postgame brawls between teams after the road victors attempted to plant flags (or in the case of Arizona State over Arizona, a pitchfork) on their opponent's midfield logo. The most significant came after Michigan's stunning 13–10 upset of Ohio State.

Saban called for the establishment of guidelines around situations like this, and argued that the fines doled out over the situation pales in comparison to the greater issue at stake. He did so with an extremely colorful simile.

"First of all, I think we need guidelines, but I think to fine these schools $100,000 is like worrying about mouse manure when you're up to your ears in elephant s---," Saban said.

"We gotta have guidelines, and I would be more upset with my team trying to plant the flag, because I think that's disrespectful and doesn't show much sportsmanship," Saban continued. "You know, you want to defeat the other team, but this disrespect that everybody wants to show is probably not a good part of the game. And I think you have to protect the brand.

"If college football players want to be paid, which they're getting paid now, then they have to do something to protect the brand. The NFL protects their brand. So when you do something like this that's bad for the game, you got to learn how to protect the brand, show sportsmanship so people can identify to the game in a positive way."

Saban added that he believes that coaches can have more control over preventing situations like this.

"If you tell your team, 'We're not doing this,' they're not going to do it. It's no different than faking injuries. Coaches can stop that. They can stop this."

More of the Latest Around College Football

Published
Dan Lyons
DAN LYONS

Dan Lyons is a staff writer and editor on Sports Illustrated's Breaking and Trending News team. He joined SI for his second stint in November 2024 after a stint as a senior college football writer at Athlon Sports, and a previous run with SI spanning multiple years as a writer and editor. Outside of sports, you can find Dan at an indie concert venue or movie theater.

Home/College Football