NASHVILLE, Tennessee — As Vanderbilt football fans stormed the field at FirstBank Stadium Saturday night, one voice was heard as pandemonium sunk in: Nick Saban’s.
In a recent appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show,” the former Alabama football coach was talking about the strength of SEC atmospheres. And he called out one he thought was subpar.
“The only place you play in the SEC that’s not hard to play is in Vanderbilt,” Saban said. “When you play at Vanderbilt, you have more fans there than they have.”
In Kalen DeBoer’s first season as Alabama coach, replacing Saban, who never lost to Vanderbilt in his 17 seasons as the head of the program, the Crimson Tide left with a 40-35 loss, the team’s first loss against Vanderbilt since 1984 and its first loss in Nashville since 1969.
Saban’s opinion rang loud and clear as Commodores fans began their celebration.
FINAL: Vanderbilt 40, Alabama 35.
You’re not gonna be able to keep them off the field tonight!
(Ft: a video of Nick Saban saying Vanderbilt is the only place in the SEC not hard to play at) pic.twitter.com/kEIC2yXPip
— Aria Gerson (@aria_gerson) October 5, 2024
“Obviously extremely disappointed, frustrated,” DeBoer said Saturday. “You name what it is, that’s what everybody is in the locker room right now. You prepare and it’s positive energy all week long. I really do think our guys prepared hard. There’s some things we;re going to look back on tomorrow and be really, really frustrated about.”
Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at cgay@gannett.com or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Vanderbilt football trolls Nick Saban after upset win vs Alabama
