And despite Kirk Herbstreit and McAfee insisting that Saban loves the banter and was just joking, Gillis felt that Saban grew legitimately angry once he repeated the SEC joke and called the legendary head coach “Alabama Jones.” (Warning: The video contains strong language).

Shane Gillis contends he was joking. Nick Saban wasn’t laughing. In fact, the former Alabama coach was mad, the comedian recently revealed.

Shane Gillis said he had a fiery off-camera interaction with Nick Saban after the comedian called the legendary Alabama coach a cheater on ESPN’s “College Gameday” last month. Gillis was first confronted by the coach after he told Pat McAfee and Kirk Herbstreit that the Crimson Tide only dominated because they were cheating by paying their players while others did not.

Nick Saban called a hilarious interaction with Steve Sarkisian and Kirby Smart his best moment of 2024, his first year with ESPN.

Comedian Shane Gillis said Nick Saban was angered by the comedian's joke on 'College GameDay' about the legendary Alabama coach paying players

One of the best moments of the new College Football Playoff didn't happen on the field, but rather on the ESPN College GameDay set when comedian Shane Gillis seemed to anger Nick Saban with a joke about how SEC teams paid players for years.