Nick Saban blames defective fuel pump for boating mishap

Alabama coach Nick Saban looked pretty embarrassed to end up in the middle of a lake while boating with some of his players last week, but it turned out that he did not run out of gas after all.

The initial snapchats posted by Alabama players indicated that the boat Saban and the Crimson Tide leadership group were on had run out of gas.

Saban and some Alabama players getting stuck on a boat is probably the best thing you will see today pic.twitter.com/ofK4H9l7mT

— ESPN CollegeFootball (@ESPNCFB) June 1, 2018

Saban explained Monday that it was actually a defective fuel pump that led to their issues, not an empty tank.

“Brand spanking new, and it’s the first time I’d been out in it,” Saban told ESPN’s Chris Low. “So when it stalled, I’m thinking, ‘Oh my gosh. I bought a new boat, and they didn’t put gas in it.’ I didn’t even think about it. You just assume that it’s got gas in it when you get a new car or a new boat. My heart sunk for a minute because I had all those kids out there. I had two of them on tubes when it happened. We had fun, but I sure heard about it.

“We didn’t run out of gas. But when the fuel pump runs out, that’s exactly what it feels like. I’ve got all these kids on the boat, and I say, ‘We must have run out of gas,’ and then look at the gas gauge and it’s full. So I call for a mechanic, who brings another boat, and he resets the thing or whatever. I told him, ‘You drive that boat. I’m driving your boat.’

“I’ve been getting busted about this for a week, but the kids sure had fun with it.”

Further proof that Nick Saban is capable of having fun. But don’t ever accuse him of being underprepared.