Nick Saban Still Steals Show At Alabama Spring Game With Ex-Star Trent Richardson

PublishedApril 15, 2024 1:41 PM EDT|UpdatedApril 15, 2024 2:45 PM EDT

TUSCALOOSA, Alabama - Quarterback Jalen Milroe clearly will remain as Alabama's starting quarterback and showed why in flashes Saturday at the spring game.

So did transfer wide receiver Germie Bernard from Washington and running back Jam Miller. And new coach Kalen DeBoer, also a transfer from Washington, has brought his Huskies offense that finished second in the nation in total yards last year at 462.1 with him, along with a fresh, friendly, more open approach. Assistant coaches are even doing interviews.

But retired Crimson Tide coaching living-legend Nick Saban still stole the show here Saturday with a series of encores, if you will.

EXCLUSIVE: OutKick Last September Had Nick Saban Likely Retiring

He spoke to the team before they took the field. He addressed the crowd of 72,358 at Bryant-Denny Stadium before the scrimmage began. His presence was all over the radio broadcast's pre-game radio show on Tide 100.9, and he left us with a quote that went viral on X.

Former Alabama football coach Nick Saban celebrates one of his six national championships won with the Crimson Tide. (Getty Images)

It was a Saban Sayonara more fitting for his Red Elephant run at Alabama - six national championships, three runner-ups and nine SEC titles since 2009 - than that low-snap, last play disaster in the national semifinal loss to Michigan last January 1.

"I'm one of the fans now," Saban said during a pre-game ceremony. "I'm one of you."

Well, it is doubtful any of the other 72,357 jetted in from Augusta, Georgia, where Saban attended the Masters. But OK.

"That was pretty cool," DeBoer said of Saban talking to the team. "Get a chance for them to see him. It's been since January since that's happened."

Nick Saban Told Alabama Players He Loved Them

"He just told us he loved us," Alabama junior middle linebacker Dontaie Lawson said of Saban's address to the team. "And that he cared for us. He said he's going to stay out of the way, but he has an office, and we can come visit. And I'm sure he'll be looking at us. I probably won't bother him too much and let him enjoy his retirement."

Saban, who coached on the defensive side of the ball for his entire assistant coaching career and coordinated the defense for most of his head coaching years, probably didn't enjoy the Alabama defense. The Tide allowed 302 passing yards, including a 52-yard completion from Milroe to Bernard, who caught three for 122 yards. Milroe threw only nine times, but completed three for 100 yards. And Alabama rushed for 206 yards with Miller getting 83 on just eight attempts.

The defense did finally come around with some points of its own in a unique scoring system after trailing 31-0 early before falling, 34-28 to the offense.

But he wasn't too worried. He actually popped through the press box during the game, which he never did during previous spring games.

When he spotted me, who covered him for the Baton Rouge Advocate and then USA Today Louisiana when he was LSU's coach from 2000-04, he shook hands and cracked, "What are YOU doing here? Did you get kicked out of Louisiana?"

Maybe, Saban has been reading OutKick's stories on Kim Mulkey. He knows I left the LSU beat in 2021 for OutKick. Unknown to many, Saban likes to mess with people and be messed with back.

"That got some serious mileage," ESPN's Chris Low, who was sitting at the same table when Saban rolled by in a Wimp Sanderson-line plaid sport coat, said later. "Just his smart ass wit is what did it."

As of Monday morning, 63,000 impressions on @SportBeatTweet and 48,000 on @ClowESPN.

And Saban left 'em laughing, exiting the press box stage left.

But it was a Saban former player at Alabama who really stole the show with his imitation of Saban and a story from the vault.

Trent Richardson, Alabama's star running back in the 2011 season, was at the game and appeared on the pre-game show with "DC" and Steve Shannon on Tide 100.9 radio in Tuscaloosa.

Alabama running back Trent Richardson (3) holds up the Mobile Press-Register newspaper after the Crimson Tide's 21-0 win over LSU on Jan. 9, 2012, at the Superdome in New Orleans for the BCS national championship. (Getty Images)

Richardson, a Pensacola, Florida, native who finished third for the Heisman Trophy in 2011, got a call at 10 p.m. one night during the off-season between the 2010 and '11 seasons that scared the hell out of him.

"My phone said, ‘Unknown,’ so I knew it was Nick Saban," he said. "So, I had to answer it. And this was a time when I'm on my way up. Mark Ingram Jr. had just left (for the 2011 NFL Draft), and I'm starting to come into my own. And he called me up into his office. I'm like, ‘Oh, man, I don’t got in trouble. What did I do? I didn't take a jersey from nobody. I didn't do nothing like that. In my mind, I'm already blaming Mark (Ingram), and Mark ain't even in school any more."

No one was in the football facility that night except for Saban and his loyal assistant, Cedric Burns, who has worked under Alabama head coaches since the 1980s. Burns shows Richardson in through the door of Saban's office.

"He had a door clicker," Richardson said. "I go in. He clicks. And the door closes."

Trent Richardson Was Scared

Richardson's heart starts pounding.

"And the room is dark. And his desk sits up, and he's got this little light shining up on him, so he looked like The Godfather," Richardson said. "Listen man, I'm like, ‘Oh my God!’ I'm sweatin' bullets. And he pulls out this piece of paper and puts it on his desk."

This is Saban asking for directions.

"He said, 'How do I get to Pensacola from here?"

Trent Richardson (center) celebrates Alabama's win over LSU for the national championship on Jan. 9, 2012, with teammates. (Getty Images).

Richardson was not in trouble. Saban needed some help, Richardson explained later over the phone with OutKick. One of their boxer dogs had just died, and Saban's wife Terry had found out that a boxer was available in Pensacola - Richardson's hometown.

"I've got to take Miss Terry down there," Richardson said as Saban, making his voice deeper to imitate Saban's voice. "Her dog died. And I can't sleep in the bed with her if her dogs are not all in the house. I've been sleepin' on the couch for four days."

And Richardson realizes he's not only in the clear, but something else. Saban needed him.

All Nick Saban Had Was A Gas Station Map

Apparently, Saban also needed a GPS app on his phone, too.

"No, he didn't even have a TomTom map, no nothing," Richardson said. "He pulled out an old school map and put it on his desk. Cedric was in there, and he goes, ‘Coach, you sure you don’t want me to go down there for you, man?'"

Richardson goes into his Saban voice again. "Well, Ced, if you go down there, I'll never be able to sleep in the bedroom again. So don't worry about it. I've got to take Miss Terry."

The Sabans got their new dog. And Richardson set the Alabama rushing record the next season with 1,679 yards in leading the Tide to its second national championship under Saban and became the third pick of the first round of the 2012 NFL Draft.

"I thought I was in trouble, and then I was like, ‘Oh my God,'" Richardson said. "I knew then I had made it. I made it."