Nick Saban has found a new way to stay in the fight after retirement, and apparently bridge comes with plenty of trash talk.
Speaking Monday at his Legacy Awards at the Red Mountain Theatre in Birmingham, the former Alabama coach said he and his wife Terry Saban, known affectionately as Miss Terry, have started playing bridge. The lesson, Saban said, came with one clear warning about the company he’d be keeping.
"Miss Terry tells me, 'We'll teach you how to play,'" the seven-time national champion coach began. "I said, OK, teach me how to play. So they taught me how to play."
Then came the catch.
"And they said, 'Now, we're playing with these older ladies who are very southern, proper folks. Terry says, 'You can't talk s---," Saban said to laughs from the audience.
That rule didn’t sit well with him.
"I said, 'I'm not playing if I can't talk s---," Saban added. "Now I got all those prim and proper ladies talking s---."
For a coach who built a career on edge, that sounds like a pretty familiar competitive outlet.
Saban, who led Alabama to six national championships in his 17 seasons in Tuscaloosa, will also keep a regular spot on ESPN’s "College GameDay." He begins his third season with host Rece Davis and fellow analysts Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard and Pat McAfee on Sept. 5.
The GameDay crew opens the 2026 season in Baton Rouge, where Saban’s former offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin will begin his first season at LSU, the first home in the SEC for Saban. LSU will face Dabo Swinney and Clemson that night at 6:30 p.m. CT.
Earlier on Sept. 5, Alabama opens its season against East Carolina at 11 a.m.
CT. That game will air on ABC.
Alabama football schedule 2026
All times Central.
Sept. 5: vs. East Carolina, 11 a.m., ABC
Sept. 12: at Kentucky, 2:30 p.m., ABC
Sept. 19: vs. Florida State, 2:30 p.m., ABC
Sept. 26: vs. South Carolina, prime time
Oct. 3: at Mississippi State, early window
Oct. 10: vs. Georgia, prime time
Oct. 17: at Tennessee, TBA
Oct. 24: vs. Texas A&M, TBA
Nov. 7: at LSU, TBA
Nov. 14: at Vanderbilt, TBA
Nov. 21: vs. Chattanooga, 1 p.m., SEC Network+
Nov. 28: vs. Auburn, TBA
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For Alabama fans, the key is less about the legal jargon than where this fight could lead next. The SEC is not the only league with a similar policy, as the ACC and Mountain West have passed comparable rules, but for now the courts action applies only to the SEC. If the case keeps moving, it could influence how quickly teams are forced to adjust to a landscape that may no longer be as fixed as it once seemed. [Read more 🡒]