Comedian Shane Gillis insisted tension between him and Nick Saban heated up behind the scenes, at least on the legendary coach's part.
In December, the comedian was a guest selector on College GameDay and began comically bantering Saban on air.
However, it turned out that the former Alabama coach didn't like Gillis' on-set antics and they continued behind the cameras.
On the latest edition of Matt and Shane's Secret Podcast with Matt McCusker, Gillis revealed that Pat McAfee and Kirk Herbstreit encouraged the pranks. Earlier in the show, he jokingly accused Saban of cheating during his time with the Crimson Tide, but Saban didn't take it lightly.
“After saying that, we had to go into the stadium to sit at the desk,” Gillis began. “He wasn't with us when I said it the first time, so I walked in and right before I continue, he looks at me and says, 'I heard what you said.'”
“And I said, 'Holy shit.'”
Shane Gillis revealed there was tension behind the scenes between him and Nick Saban
“I would never have done that if I thought he was serious,” but I thought he was fucking around, so I started fucking with him.
“As soon as we're done, I tell Herbstreit and McAfee, 'Bro, I was definitely serious.'”
To add to the cheating jokes, Gillis trolled Saban over the top of his hat, calling him 'Alabama Jones' on set. He then went on to share how Saban's tense reactions continued afterwards.
“I went up to him and he said, 'Do you think the SEC dominated because we cheated? That's nonsense,'” he said before bursting into laughter.
“He was still on the stage and I was on the field, so after he yelled at me, I had to help him down,” Gillis continued. “And he looked around to see if anyone else could help him, but I had to help him down.”
Saban won one national championship with LSU and six with Alabama before retiring from coaching at the end of 2024. He then joined ESPN as a college football analyst.