Nick Saban is no longer directly involved in football games. He spent half a century on college and NFL sidelines as a coach, eventually putting together a legendary legacy during his 17-year stint with Alabama. But now, he’s just a fan of the game like the rest of us. And a short video of him watching football this past Sunday has made him even more relatable.
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Now, Saban’s not quite just a fan or viewer like us average joes—he is a highly paid analyst for ESPN’s College GameDay and he retained a lucrative advisory role for the Crimson Tide—but he certainly looked like it on Sunday.
Saban turned 74 on Halloween last week, but his family seems to have waited until Sunday to go through all of the classic birthday festivities like cake, candles, and that godforsaken happy birthday song. And they did it while he was cocooned in a blanket on his comfy chair.
Saban’s wife of 50 years, Terry, clearly did not care that he was absolutely dialed in on the biggest game of the weekend—Chiefs versus Bills, always a thriller—as she slowly walked the cake out in between Saban and his beloved football game while singing the song alongside at least a half dozen other family members.
In a hilarious peek into the Saban’s marriage, she even scolded him for remaining in the leaned-back position on his chair, quickly interrupting the song to tell him to “sit up”. Of course, Saban promptly did just that.
HEARTWARMING: Legendary head coach Nick Saban’s family surprised him with a birthday cake and sang happy birthday to him on Sunday night.
❤️
Coach was locked in on the game.
pic.twitter.com/j2na37nLkk— MLFootball (@MLFootball) November 4, 2025
Terry also had some ideas when they got to the “blow out the candles and make a wish” part of the song, suggesting a cruise to Greece and Italy with the family. Saban and his 74-year-old lungs then blew out the candles like a pro. The cruise remains up in the air, though.
The video was shared online, and fans couldn’t help but bust off jokes about what Saban was thinking during that interruption, which seemed to have happened during fourth-quarter crunch time of the best rivalry in the NFL right now.
“There’s no way they did this with 4 min left in the bills chiefs game,” said one fan.
“He’s like I’m watching the game!! F**K OFF!!” posited another.
“I hope he fined them for interfering during live game/film review,” joked one Twitter user.
“Never seen him relaxing lol,” added one surprised fan.
We would have to agree with that last one, as Nick Saban was always known as one of the hardest-working coaches in the game. Even as an analyst, he’s had his lighter moments but usually offers serious analysis. Seeing him so relaxed, wrapped up in a blanket on his barcalounger watching the game, proves that he is indeed human.
