Nick Saban Offered $5,000 To Leave Alabama By Young Intruder At SEC Meetings

Destin, Florida-- It was just another SEC Spring meetings day until a high school junior decided he wanted some FaceTime with Nick Saban. This might have been one of the wilder situations I've experienced during a convention and I think the Alabama head coach could say the same.

How we got to the meeting of incredible minds is the focal point of the story. During these conferences, there is a blocked off area that only SEC administrators and coaches may pass, almost like a checkpoint. The sign literally says 'event attendees only beyond this point', but that didn't stop the high school junior from Louisiana. He wanted to have a quick word with Nick Saban while the coach was eating lunch.

I caught up with the kid and asked why he decided to sneak past security and talk with Saban, while others looked around in amazement. Why did he want to speak with the Alabama head coach.

"For the pain he’s given me for the past twelve years. January 9th to 2022, he has given me so much pain. I go to the LSU-Alabama games, I sit there in the 4th quarter, LSU is up and I think this is the year and then I just see Saban just run away with it. 

"I am a diehard LSU fan," the young kid noted. "I build myself up on Fridays thinking this is the year we’re gonna beat him, we’re gonna beat 'em. They have the lead and then they just blow up. I just think that I can’t believe I just witnessed another Saban beatdown again."

There's no ill-will from the kid towards Saban, he's just over having to sit through the losses, which could sound like any SEC fan in the past twelve years.

“I respect him, I respect everything he does, I love his process, I love everything about him. I just can’t stand losing to him."

But even for Nick Saban, this was a new one for him. I caught up with the Tide' head coach and had to ask him what the kid wanted to discuss with him.

“The kid offered me 5,000 to leave Alabama and go back to LSU," Saban said.

The best part about this story is the kid first told an SID he worked for a prominent media outlet, which is a smart move by the way. Security ended up escorting the youngster out of the area and banning him from the hotel, but not before he was able to sit-down next to the most powerful coach in college football.

Before walking out of the Sandestin Hilton, Nick Saban offered me one final response about the young man who decided to come hangout at his table.

“He was a cute kid”