Nick Saban Was Denied Access to SEC Media Days After Leaving Credential in Room

Former Alabama head football coach Nick Saban's new role as an analyst doesn't give him some perks that he was used to having for the last 17 years.

Jul 19, 2023; Nashville, TN, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban speaks during SEC Media Day at the Grand Hyatt. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports / Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

He may be a seven-time college football national champion, but former Alabama football head coach Nick Saban wasn't originally allowed in the building to SEC Media Days on Monday morning as the now-analyst forgot his credential.

Saban broke the news on Get Up this morning, when asked what it's like being on the other side of SEC Media Days after 17 consecutive years as a head coach in the conference.

"It's a little different," Saban said. "I've never worn a credential in my life and was always for 17 years able to get into SEC Media Day without a credential. I had to go back to the room today and get my credential to get in."

When the SEC Media Days coverage kicked off at 9 a.m. CT and Saban was eventually allowed into the buiding, the very first question that fellow media member Laura Rutledge asked Saban revolved around the abrupt moment. Saban restated that he'd never worn a credential before but accepted what comes with his new role.

"But now that I'm on your team, I guess it's a little different," Saban said. "But the (security) were really polite and I respect that they were just trying to do their job."

As previously stated, Saban has been through many SEC Media Days and gave an interesting metaphor to explain what it's like as a head coach during that week.

"First of all, this SEC Media Day was kind of D-Day for me because in January you spend time developing your team, February is spring practice and summer is conditioning, so your focus is really on developing your team," Saban said. "Then all of sudden when you get here, you say 'Oh boy, there's a lot of competition, so we got to start to get ready for the season.' So it was really kind of D-Day for me in terms of transitioning your team from developing to getting ready to compete."

There's plenty to look forward to over the next four days and Saban listed his reasons from a former coach's perspective.

"I think there's 6-or-8 teams in the SEC that are really good this year, so I'm interested in what each guy thinks about their team, what's happening inside their building right now, what are they concerned about, how are they going fix whatever their issues are," Saban said. "I'm kind of a coaches guy so I'm interested in what they have to say."

Kalen DeBoer, who is attempting to fill Saban's shoes as he was hired to be Alabama's next head coach on Jan. 12., will make his SEC Media Days debut on Wednesday along with Alabama players Tyler Booker, Jalen Milroe and Malachi Moore.

DeBoer is scheduled to speak at the main podium Wednesday morning from 9:05-9:35 a.m., which will be streamed live on SEC Network. He will then move to the digital media room from 9:40-9:55 a.m. The Alabama head coach will be on "Marty and McGee" from approximately 9:55-10:15 and is scheduled to be on the SEC Network set from 10:15-10:30 with various TV and radio appearances scattered throughout the afternoon.

The Alabama players will be doing radio interviews while DeBoer is at the podium before heading to breakout sessions with reporters themselves.

LSU, South Carolina, Ole Miss and Vanderbilt will all take turns on Monday. Georgia, Tennessee Oklahoma and Missouri will go on Tuesday followed by Alabama, Mississippi State, Florida and Texas on Wednesday. Arkansas, Texas A&M, Auburn and Kentucky will round out the event on Thursday.