MIAMI — He doesn’t smile much.
When he does, people question its sincerity. Once the coach made a Dolphin cry in what became a timeless viral video.
He’s Nick Saban, the grumpiest coach around.
But his Alabama players paint a different picture of South Florida’s favorite football villain. When the moment is right, the gruff exterior melts into a joke-telling, regular-ish guy.
Outsiders rarely see this side of the man who coached the Dolphins from 2005-06, though. So a few Crimson Tide players shared insights into the other Nick Saban just days before the Tide’s 5:30 Monday night BCS National Championship Game with No. 1 Notre Dame.
“He’s not as crazy as people think he is,” freshman offensive lineman Alphonse Taylor promised. “You can’t believe the hype.”
Saban’s dry wit manifests itself best when he morphs into the roast master of pre-practice stretching drills. He roams the rows of padded giants in the search for victims.
Offensive linemen are a favorite target of Saban’s deadpan deliveries.
“He’s got more jokes than Kevin Hart,” said a belly-laughing right tackle D.J. Fluker, drawing a comparison to the popular actor and comedian.
Left tackle Chance Warmack takes the worst of it.
“How many months are you?” Saban asks the 6-foot-3, 320-pound left guard whose rolled up jersey prominently displays his Buddha-like belly.
“Oh man, he’s a funny guy when you get to know him,” Warmack said during the free-for-all BCS media day at Sun Life Stadium.
He’s best with the one-liners dropped on stretching players.
“Forty-two, I knew you when you were fast,” is his dig on the brash Hubbard using his customary jersey-number greeting.
On occasion, he’ll pretend to line up across from the 6-foot-6, 248-pound linebacker. Hubbard shows his moxie with a verbal jab.
“I’ll be like, ‘Coach, you’re too old for this,’ ” Hubbard tells Saban, the 61-year-old former Kent State defensive back. “He just laughs and keeps running because he probably knows it’s true.”
Fluker, at 6-6, 335, isn’t using size or any other perceived weakness to respond to Saban’s challenges.
“I’m quiet, I’m not going to say anything,” Fluker said. “And he’ll come by and say ‘Hey 76, you want some of this.’ He picks on the big guys. That’s probably the most funniest thing I’ve ever seen.”
The first sign of a mellowing Saban was broadcast on ESPN before the 2010 season. Walk-on wide receiver Rob Ezell’s spot-on impression of his ranting coach was broadcast on a behind-the-scenes documentary on the program. Saban even walked in on his impersonator mid-speech one Thanksgiving.
Ezell escaped without harm. But since he graduated, nobody carried the torch.
It’s Saban on offense these days, and even the targets enjoy the levity.
Warmack fires back sometimes too, but he proceeds with caution.
“He’s still the head coach,” he said. “You can’t go too far off.”
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