Steve Spurrier, master disturber that he is, tweaked Nick Saban and a few other SEC coaches during an interview with ESPN’s Chris Low in April.
The South Carolina coach said of Saban, “if he wants to be the greatest coach or one of the greatest coaches in college football, to me, he has to go somewhere besides Alabama and win, because they’ve always won there at Alabama.”
Of course, Spurrier also labeled Saban the best coach in the SEC in the same interview, so his jabs shouldn’t be taken too seriously.
Saban finally had a chance to respond to Spurrier during an interview on “The Dan Patrick Show,” and boy, did he ever put Spurrier in check.
“Well, you know, he had the best job in the league for a long time, and he wasn’t making those kinds of statements when he was at Florida,” Saban said of Spurrier. “He’s done a great job at South Carolina.”
Saban was just warming up.
“LSU wasn’t winning when I went there. Michigan State wasn’t winning when I went there. Toledo wasn’t winning when I went there. And Alabama really wasn’t winning when I came here. I guess I gotta go someplace else. I don’t know.”
Game, set, match, Saban.
Surprisingly, the Alabama coach doesn’t mind the smack talk from the ‘Ol Ball Coach.
“I think it’s great, I love Steve. I’m always anxious to hear what he has to say — it’s always funny.”
Well of course he doesn’t mind it — Saban has an impeccable track record in the collegiate ranks, and he’s one of the few coaches who can stand up to Spurrier. I just hope the detailed response from Saban doesn’t deter Spurrier from his typical trash talk. College football wouldn’t be the same without it.
