It has been more than a decade since former Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce finished his college career at Cincinnati, but one regret from that time still stays with him. A recent appearance by legendary coach Nick Saban on Jason and Travis Kelce’s New Heights podcast brought that regret back into focus.
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“Every time I hear coach talk I get fired up!! Man I would have loved playing for him!” wrote Jason on X, re-sharing a clip of Saban’s interview from The Pat McAfee Show.
On November 6, Saban joined the Kelce brothers’ New Heights podcast. While that itself was an honor for them, the former Alabama Crimson Tide head coach’s action touched them even more when he had some good words to say about Travis and Jason on Pat McAfee’s podcast.
“Great work on New Heights. Happy you did that. We love the Kelseys, actually, so I’m pumped you did that. What are your thoughts on them? Those are two goats, by the way. You three are goats on the screen there for football, so we appreciate you doing that,” shared McAfee.
“Well, it goes back to my doing that because of my respect for great competitors, and those two guys are great competitors, and I enjoy doing it, even though I don’t do podcasts at all,” Saban had his answer ready.
Travis and Jason officially launched the New Heights podcast on September 8, 2022. It did not take the brothers long to find fame in this field, which was comparatively new for the NFL players duo. But their fame helped them to build a huge family soon, and they now have 3.21 million subscribers in four years.
Being one of the most popular podcasts wasn’t enough to convince the seven-time national champion, who has been very picky about choosing what interviews to join. But this time credit goes to Saban’s daughter, Kristen, who is a big Taylor Swift fan and convinced her father to try the podcast just once. After all, she is a big fan of Travis and Jason Kelce.
But was it enough for Saban to come out of his comfort zone? Definitely not. His respect for the Kelce brothers did most of the convincing.
“I don’t do podcasts. I mean, this may be one I’ve done in my life. I refuse to do it, but my daughter loves you guys, and she convinced me that I should do this. And I have tremendous respect for you guys, so I wanted to do it for you guys. But I just want to leave a message out there for everybody else. I’m not doing this S*** anymore,” shared Saban on the podcast.
Saban did not just appear on the podcast. Having respect for Travis and Jason, he even felt comfortable sharing his take on sensitive topics that are now ruling the college football scene.
Speaking on the podcast, Saban pointed to the Protect College Sports Act (PCSA) as a potential solution to the transfer portal’s challenges. The bill would restrict undergraduate athletes to a single transfer, allowing programs to build more stable rosters across seasons.
“Playing in the SEC Championship Game was a big thing to our players, it was a big thing to our fans, it was a tradition, and it was a great venue.” Saban said. “There’s a lot of pride in winning the conference championship, and we’re going to give that up to have an extra game, where the 24th team is going to play the ninth-best team.”
Besides the PCSA, Saban also had some opinions on the 24-team College Football Playoff. It has been only two years since it got expanded to a 12-team field, while a 24-team format is on its way to be in action in 2027. Turns out Saban is not in support of the expansion.
“There’s a lot of pride in winning the conference championship. And we’re going to give that up to have an extra game, where the 24th team is going to play the ninth-best team. I’m not a big (proponent) of it.”
The New Heights podcast definitely gave Saban that comfort space to share his opinions. For Jason, it’s the closest he could come to Saban, making up for the regret he carries.