Nick Saban has pulled few punches on College GameDay this season.
In his first season on the air for ESPN, Saban has had no trouble expressing his opinions, even using some salty language on occasion. This morning, Saban has already dropped the s-word multiple times, including when discussing the Big Ten’s punishment for last week’s Ohio State-Michigan fight.
The Big Ten fined both programs $100,000, and while Ohio State and Michigan both accepted the penalty, Saban thinks it was a waste of time.
“Well, first of all, we need guidelines, but I think to fine these schools $100,000 is like worrying about mouse manure when you’re up to ears in elephant s–t,” Saban said on GameDay.
“To fine these schools $100,000 is like worrying about mouse manure when you’re up to ears in elephant shit.” – Nick Saban. pic.twitter.com/qGqUqh1MVs
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 7, 2024
The coach went on to say that guidelines for postgame behavior need to be established, and with players now getting paid due to NIL, college football has to worry about protecting its brand in the same way the NFL does.
“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,” Saban said.
While Saban is staunchly against postgame taunting, he’s also not the only legendary former coach to criticize the Big Ten’s punishment of OSU and Michigan. Urban Meyer also voiced his disapproval this week.
“Whoever grabbed the flag, that person is done for a game and the head coach is gonna be potentially suspended as well because he didn’t enforce it. That’s how I would handle it. The money, $100,000. Where does that money go?” Meyer asked. “I always crack up about that. It’s a $100,000 fine. Okay Big Ten Conference, tell me exactly where the $100,000 goes, and who cares. That’s not going to deter people from doing that. When someone’s gonna get really hurt badly and it just looks awful for the greatest game that exists.”
Flag-planting, which is what set off last week’s Ohio State-Michigan altercation, was a major topic on GameDay this morning, with Kirk Herbstreit coming out strongly against the practice.
“It’s a bad look for the sport what we all watched. It wasn’t just Ohio State-Michigan; it seemed to go on throughout the whole day,” Herbstreit said. “I think if you make that a rule where you can’t plant the flag, maybe that’s a start. If the home team in those rivalry games, if the police go out there and protect that [logo], if that becomes a new thing, you could maybe do that.”
You can catch the rest of College GameDay now on ESPN.
Related: Urban Meyer Rips Big Ten’s Ohio State vs. Michigan Punishment Decision