For months now there has been a burning question surrounding Nick Saban.
It’s not whether his defense will get back on track, or if he has any tiny feeling inside about retiring.
No, it’s whether his preferred sense of humor is “deez nuts” jokes.
Last September, former Alabama running back Josh Jacobs made an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show to talk about his rookie season with the now Las Vegas Raiders, but questions about his time at Alabama also came up.
When talking about his former head coach, Jacobs dropped the first hint that Saban liked to make this particular joke.
“Saban just likes to do a lot of ‘deez nuts’ jokes,” said Jacobs. “It’s funny because I haven’t heard one of those since like middle school, and then when I went to college, Saban used to do it a lot.
One day I caught like five passes in a row, and he was like, ‘Hey, Josh. If you want to hold all those balls, hold these.’ I said, ‘What, coach?’ So, I sat there for a second and I was like, ‘Did he really just say that to me.’ I was like, ‘Coach, I haven’t heard that since middle school.’ He’s actually funnier than people think he is.”
On Wednesday, Saban made his own appearance on The Dan Patrick Show where Patrick played the clip for Saban and attempted to get confirmation from the six time national champion.
“I like to have fun with the players,” said Saban. “I think it’s probably good that they see you every now and then in a little bit different light. Since I’m a defensive coach and I probably get on the defensive players a little bit more ferociously, it’s a little easier for me to be lighthearted with the offensive players.
“And there’s some guys on your team you just love like Josh Jacobs, Tua (Tagovailoa), Henry Ruggs. We’ve had a lot of really good players on offense that had great personalities and great work ethic, and you just love them. Those are the kind of guys I usually pick out to do all the teasing stuff.”
Saban decided to put on his politician hat and not give a straight answer, but he didn’t deny it.
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Patrick Dowd is a Reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via Pat_Dowd77
