Kalen DeBoer diss? Nick Saban reveals SEC rivals text chain

Nick Saban is getting with the times…sort of.

The recently-retired Alabama Crimson Tide head coach was notorious for never texting. However, now that he’s retired, it turns out that he’s starting to figure out how the whole texting thing works.

Saban revealed at SEC Media Days that he’s now in a text chain with a pair of SEC head coaches in Kirby Smart and Lane Kiffin. However, Smart downplayed Saban’s abilities as a texter.

Nick Saban has never been a big texter, but in retirement he will answer the texts.
Kirby Smart on Saban actually answering his texts now. pic.twitter.com/YbywAqV3Zw

— Maria Martin (@Ria_Martin) July 16, 2024″I don’t think he’s ever responded to a text until he retired,” the Georgia Bulldogs head coach revealed. “And now, it’s very unique. You might get a thumbs up emoji. You might get a text back. I think I got one text back, and like a thanks…We cracked a joke on our coaches thread, some of us that worked for him…everybody was laughing that he did respond, or someone responded for him.”

At 72 years old, it shouldn’t be a huge surprise that Saban has never been big into texting. He’s always come across as more of a phone call or face-to-face kind of guy.

Some Alabama fans might read into the fact that Saban doesn’t have new Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer in that text thread. That shouldn’t be a real concern, however. As Smart mentioned, the text thread involves coaches that used to work for him, which would include but Smart and Kiffin.

DeBoer and Saban almost certainly stay in contact. After all, the Alabama program is paying out huge money for Saban to serve as an advisor after retirement. 

Just don’t expect Saban to do much texting in his advisor role, even if he is getting better at it. 

Author(s)

Tyler Brooke has been covering football for more than 12 years. His experience includes writing for multiple outlets including Bleacher Report, FanDuel, and SB Nation.