Nick Saban surely had a lot to say to the media on Monday following Alabama’s narrow victory over then-unranked Texas in Austin on Saturday.
However, it proved to be a little more complicated than one would expect for him to actually get to his press conference.
According to AL.com, Saban was accidentally locked out of his own media session at the Crimson Tide’s football complex on Monday. While reporters waited idly by for the seven-time national champion to step up to the podium, Saban was outside of the room, knocking on the door after finding a locked door handle when trying to enter.
Once he was let in by an Alabama staffer, the 70-year-old coach had a joke or two for those in attendance.
“So you all locked me out today,” Saban said with a grin to a room full of reporters with their hands raised, aiming to ask their various questions about the weekend’s nail-biter.
“Why do you have your hands up?” he added jokingly, implying that everyone was claiming responsibility for locking him out.
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The humorous moment provided a bit of levity to Saban’s press conference, which usually take on a more serious tone. The Crimson Tide coach has become somewhat infamous for pushing back against reporters if he has any sort of problem with a particular line of questioning.
The disruption of Monday’s media session surely eased the tension lingering from a particularly stressful weekend for Saban and Alabama. The Crimson Tide barely held off an upset bid from the Longhorns and need a late fourth-quarter drive by reigning Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young to remain undefeated with a 20–19 win.
With the tightly contested game in Austin and the press conference gaffe now in the rearview mirror, Saban will turn Alabama’s focus to Louisiana-Monroe this upcoming weekend.
