Nick Saban says his players listen to the media more than they listen to him

Few coaches in the history of sports have been more wary of the media than Nick Saban, but the Alabama coach thinks writers, reporters and analysts are better at one aspect of his job than he is — getting players to listen.

If Saban has an important message to deliver to his team, he apparently uses the media to deliver it. The five-time national champion said during his weekly radio show Thursday that his players listen to things that are said on TV or the radio more closely than if he says it to them directly.

Nick Saban: "I use the media to say what I want to say to the team, because they listen to that more than they listen to me. If I put it on the radio or I put it on television & they hear it, they're listening. If I tell them in a meeting, it goes in one ear & out the other."

— Alex Byington (@_AlexByington) September 27, 2019

That sounds like an exaggeration and was probably said with some sarcasm, but it would not be a surprise if Saban feels there is some truth to it. It would also help explain why he does his radio show.

Alabama has been at or near the top of the college football world since Saban arrived in Tuscaloosa more than a decade ago, and he often refers to the media as “rat poison.” The coach has gone to great lengths to get the media to not cover his team so positively, and that’s because he thinks players hear all the compliments and get too complacent. It’s no surprise that the same coach who calls the media “rat poison” believes they have a more direct line into his players’ brains than he does.