Nick Saban sits in the Mount Rushmore of the greatest college football head coaches after winning seven national championships (1 at LSU, 6 at Alabama). The former Tide head coach was known for his intense demeanor, discipline, and no-nonsense attitude. A man who rarely cracked a smile. But according to former Alabama star Terrence Cody, the story behind the doors was completely different.

“Everyone was scared of him, and I’m wondering why everybody was scared of a coach and stuff, like, I’m not gonna lie,” Cody said on the latest episode of ‘Beat Everyone.’ He’s intimidating as hell. Once you get to know him a lot, you start to realize what type of guy he is,” said Cody.

“When we first started traveling, I think it was like the first or the second game, and I started noticing. Why is nobody sitting next to the coach on the bus? When we come from the airport, go to the airport, go to the movies, or come from the movies. I started to realize it’s like, man, ‘Nobody sitting next to the coach, what was wrong there, like the guys in the back were like you sit next to them, and I was like, ‘Is he gonna whoop my a-s up or something?”

When Terrence Cody arrived at Alabama in 2008 after transferring from Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, he wasted no time making his presence felt. The massive defensive lineman quickly became one of Nick Saban’s most trusted players, earning the nickname “Mount Cody.”

During his dominant senior season in 2009, Cody played a huge role in leading the Crimson Tide to a perfect 14-0 record and a victory in the 2010 BCS National Championship Game. Eventually, the charismatic player thought to break the ice with Saban.

“One day, when we landed, we hopped on the bus, and I sat next to him, and I said what up, coach, and he looked at me; he was like what up 62. We started chopping it up, and I realized, man, coach man, it’s good man. ‘Why does nobody like to sit next to you?’ He was like, ‘sh-t, I don’t know.’ So we started chopping it up, and after that, it was like a ritua. to the game. Away from the game. To the airport. From the airport. I sat next to him.”

“And he’s superstitious. So like we’re winning. One week, I decided to sit in the back because the guy and I were talking about something, and so the bus was getting ready to move. Probably drives for three seconds, bus stops. All I see is him standing up. He stands up, he’s looking around, he sees me, he’s like, ‘Hey, 62. You don’t want to sit with me anymore.’ Everybody turns and looks at me. I was like, ‘I thought you wanted some space, coach,'” said Cody.

What many people fail to realize is that even Nick Saban isn’t a big fan of how his personality was perceived. But that’s what happens when you carry the same intense poker face both on and off the field.

“One of the things that has bothered me a little through the years is I don’t think the perception that people have of me as a coach is really, truly who I am as a person,” Saban says. “I’m always portrayed as the tough, grinding, working-hard guy. And I think those things are true. But there is more than that. And I don’t think people realize that.”

Nick Saban is a totally different person in his TV role

Less than a year after retiring from the Crimson Tide, Saban joined ESPN’s College GameDay show as an analyst in the fall of 2024. Since then, the former Bama head coach has been a breath of fresh air in broadcasting. His equation with Pat McAfee and their yin-and-yang act have warmed even rival fanbases to Saban.

In his first role on College GameDay, Saban was nervous about how the CFB audience would receive him. He even approached other members of the show to teach him how to use the props. But it has worked as smoothly as he could have. Some fans continue to be miffed at Saban’s occasional use of swear words during live TV, but even that has come as a surprise to many.

Who could have imagined the head coach famous for his poker face blurting out ‘sh-t’ as he called out the corporate answers from his former assistants Steve Sarkisian and Kirby Smart?