While he might have a room filled with trophies from his coaching days, Nick Saban added a different type of award to his collection on Tuesday night, taking home an Emmy Award for his role on College Gameday.

The national championship-winning football coach made his transition from coaching to talking about what he was seeing from teams across college football as part of ESPN’s College Gameday crew this past year.

After captivating audiences with his witty banter, it didn’t take long for the viewers at home to start enjoying the legendary football coach. It was a side of Nick Saban we never saw. Whether it was going back and forth with Pat McAfee on the set, or poking fun at former assistant coaches who were now leading their own programs.

The transition to television seemed like an easy one, though Saban would be the first to tell you that it was not an easy move to make. But, it paid off for ESPN, with the former coach bringing a different style to the Gameday set, which had viewers wanting to see more of this type of banter from the ball coach.

During the 46th annual Sports Emmy Awards ceremony, held in New York City, Nick Saban beat out NFL commentators Ryan Fitzpatrick, Richard Sherman and Jason Kelce, along with former Villanova basketball coach Jay Wright for the ‘Outstanding Personality/Emerging On-Air Talent’ award.

While speaking at his charity golf event, Nick’s Kids, on Tuesday afternoon, Saban joked about himself being included in the category this year.

“Must have been not a good year for people in the Emmy’s.”

Well, it turns out that even with the tough competition, Nick Saban did enough in the eyes of voters to take home the award. And to be honest, he deserved it.

Nick Saban Shocked Folks With His Witty Humor On College Gameday

If you are a college football fan, it was hard not to laugh at some of the moments Saban shared with his colleagues on the Gameday set this past season. Whether that was taking a bite out of a tomahawk steak from Pat McAfee, dressing up like a Nittany Lion, cracking jokes with Deion Sanders about their fishing trips or delivering a fantastic quote about paying players.

“You guys keep talking about a $20 million dollar roster, if you don’t pay the right guys, you’re shit out of luck,” Saban quipped before the Notre Dame versus Texas A&M game last season.

While discussing the honor of actually being nominated, Nick Saban made sure to praise his colleagues who sit on the stage with him every week, or work behind the scenes to make sure he was up for the task on Saturday.

“It was a new experience,” Saban told reporters on Tuesday about the nomination. “A lot of people helped contribute to learning how to do it. I certainly appreciate them and thank them for that. And we have a really good team of people who have lots of experience that I think helped me fit into the program, and hopefully we created some value of some sort.

“It’s always an honor to be nominated for anything, but there’s always so many people that contribute to it.”

I feel for the other broadcasters out there in a similar role to Nick Saban, because he’ll now be coming after more of these Emmy Awards in the future.

Nick Saban may have traded in his headset for a microphone, but the former Alabama coaching titan still commands center stage, and this time it’s under the bright lights of the Sports Emmys. Just 15 months into retirement, Saban has found himself in a new kind of huddle, surrounded by cameras instead of players, and it seems the wins just keep stacking. Now a full-time analyst on ESPN’s College GameDay, Saban added yet another piece of hardware to his already-bursting trophy case. As the show—and his new ESPN family—earned national recognition at one of sports media’s biggest nights. Alongside him in celebration? None other than longtime play-by-play voice and ESPN icon, Chris Fowler.

Chris Fowler, who leads the broadcast booth for Saturday Night Football on ABC, didn’t hold back his pride. As ESPN’s college football crew brought home a massive win for their coverage of the SEC on ABC, Fowler took to his Instagram story to salute the squad. “Congratulations to the @espncfb team on their 2025 #SportsEmmys win for the ‘Outstanding Live Series’ for @sec on ABC,” Fowler posted. The message was short but packed with weight—the culmination of a long grind that delivered not just big games, but a consistently elite product on primetime Saturday nights.

But this wasn’t just a one-hit-wonder kind of evening. ESPN walked into the 46th Annual Sports Emmy Awards already well-decorated—and they walked out with even more gold. In 2024, the network captured eight Emmys across various categories, solidifying its dominance in the sports broadcasting landscape. Most notably, the network kept its stranglehold on the “Outstanding Live Series” category, winning for the third straight year thanks to Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli Manning. That win marked ESPN’s eighth all-time victory in the category, but 2025 added a new flavor to the mix.

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As Chris Fowler continued reflecting on the moment, the historic weight of the College Football win came into focus. “While 24′ was franchise’s rookie season, this is ESPN’s 9th win & 4th consecutive victory in this category. This is the first time in 45 yrs CFB has won the category!” Fowler shared, highlighting the long-overdue recognition for college football in a space traditionally dominated by pro sports. The SEC on ABC crew broke through a barrier that had held for over four decades.

Last year’s 45th Emmys College GameDay, ESPN’s flagship college football studio show, added to its ever-growing legacy with a win in the “Outstanding Studio Show – Weekly” category. That marked GameDay’s ninth victory in that category and its 14th Sports Emmy overall. With 37 seasons in the books and 30 of them filmed live from game sites, the show continues to evolve without losing its soul.

Nick Saban’s addition has given the panel a new voice of authority—one shaped by decades on the sideline and sharpened by a new lens from the studio. And while the night belonged to the production teams and their creative genius, the pride radiating from figures like Fowler spoke volumes.

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Nick Saban manifested the Sports Emmy, joked his way to the podium

Nick Saban can now add Emmy winner to his already stacked résumé. The former Alabama HC turned ESPN analyst took home a Sports Emmy for Outstanding Personality/Emerging On-Air Talent, the Emmys announced Tuesday.

Saban found out about the nomination while swinging clubs at his Nick’s Kids charity golf tournament, and in classic Saban fashion, he didn’t miss the chance for a dry one-liner: “Must have been not a good year for people in the Emmys,” he joked, before graciously adding that it was an honor.

He beat out a pretty stacked field, too—Ryan Fitzpatrick and Richard Sherman (Prime Video), Jason Kelce (ESPN), and Jay Wright (CBS) were all in the running. Saban joined ESPN in 2024 after stepping down from the Crimson Tide throne, and fans quickly took notice of how smoothly he transitioned into the College Gameday crew.

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Not everyone was thrilled though. Three viewers filed FCC complaints about Saban’s on-air swearing, but because ESPN is a cable channel, the FCC shrugged it off. Reflecting on his first season, Saban said, “A lot of people helped contribute to learning how to do it… I certainly appreciate them and thank them for that.” Coach is coming back to College Gameday this fall.

HOOVER, Ala. − Nick Saban has more on his plate than Alabama football.

The former Crimson Tide coach is expected to join an upcoming federal commission on collegiate athletics set up by President Donald Trump. And Saban is expected to return to his post on ESPN’s “College GameDay” this fall as a Sports Emmy Award nominee.

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But ahead of an appearance at the Drummond Company Celebrity Pro-Am May 14 at the Regions Tradition golf tournament at the Greystone Country Club in Hoover, Saban did share his thoughts about what Kalen DeBoer and company could do in 2025.

“I don’t really have an expectation,” Saban said. “I know those guys are working hard to be the best they can. It was a difficult transition with the number of players that moved. New system, new people, players in the organization had to make adjustments. I would say that everybody’s probably a little more settled in this year. And I hope they do extremely well.”

In Alabama’s first season without Saban since 2006, the Crimson Tide finished 9-4, recording its first season with less than 10 wins in 17 years.

Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at cgay@gannett.com or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Nick Saban shares Alabama football 2025 expectations under Kalen DeBoer

Nick Saban is already winning awards in retirement.

The former Alabama head coach won a Sports Emmy for “Outstanding Personality/Emerging On-Air Talent” on Tuesday night. It marked Saban’s first Sports Emmy award.

Saban beat out several other notable names in the category for the award, including Amazon Prime Video’s Ryan Fitzpatrick and Richard Sherman, ESPN’s Jason Kelce and CBS Sports’ Jay Wright. “College GameDay” also won the Sports Emmy for “Outstanding Studio Show — Weekly.”

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Saban joined ESPN last year after he retired from Alabama — where he won six national championships and dominated the sport for nearly two decades — and he quickly joined the network as an analyst on its “College GameDay” show. Saban fit right in with ESPN’s iconic college football pregame show each week, though he did receive three official complaints with the FCC about his swearing.

“It was a new experience,” Saban said of his time at “College GameDay” before the announcement, via the Tuscaloosa News. “A lot of people helped contribute to learning how to do it. I certainly appreciate them and thank them for that. We had a really good team of people who has lots of experience, I think, helped me fit in the program and hopefully we created value of some sort.”

Saban will be back on the “College GameDay” desk this fall. He’s also been very outspoken about his displeasure with how the sport operates now in the new era of name, image and likeness payments. He’s been floated by many as a choice for a college football commissioner, though that’s a position that doesn’t exist. He met with President Donald Trump about the issues recently, too, and is reportedly set to be involved in a new commission on college sports that Trump created — even though Saban isn’t sure that is necessary.

Regardless of what his future in the sport looks like, Saban has clearly found a great new home at ESPN with his coaching career behind him. And now, he’s got some hardware to prove that.