Nick Saban Reveals that He's Never Attended a Tailgate

It might not come as too big of a surprise, but it's certainly something that many fans might not think about.

Alabama Athletics

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — It's something that a lot of fans don't really think about.

On Thursday night during Nick Saban's weekly appearance on the Hey Coach! radio show, the Alabama football coach revealed that he has never been to a tailgate.

“When do you think the last time I’ve ever been in a concession stand is?” Saban asked ESPN's Lauren Sisler, who was the media guest of the night. “And when do you think the last time I ever did a tailgate? Never. Never been at a tailgate in my life. Do you have any idea where I am during the game?”

In his defense, Saban has been pretty busy on Saturdays for quite some time now.

Saban has participated in football in some capacity on Saturdays every season since 1970 when he played quarterback at Kent State. He then served as a graduate assistant for the Golden Flashes in 1973 and 1974 and became an assistant coach after that.

He coached on Saturdays either as an assistant or head coach all the way until 2005, when he became the coach of the Miami Dolphins. It's safe to assume that he was busy on Saturdays then as well.

In 2007, Saban joined the Crimson Tide and became its head coach, and he has coached every game except one ever since. The only game he missed was last year's Iron Bowl, when he was quarantined after testing positive for COVID-19.

It really puts into perspective how little Saban has ever been able to participate in game day activities outside of the Walk of Champions at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

“My experience relative to football has never been that part of being a fan,” Saban said. “It’s always been ‘Go to the game, coach the team’. Maybe one day I’ll get the chance to do these things but it’s not really on my bucket list or anything like that.”

As far as if he'll ever visit a concession stand again, Saban admitted that he might if his grandson, James Nickolas Setas, plays football when he gets older.

“Oh yeah well that’ll be fine,” Saban said. “I’ll be glad to go to the game. But I don’t really know.”