"I don't think he can": When Mark Ingram II dropped a blunt comment on Nick Saban's ability to take jokes

Even on April Fool's, former Alabama coach Nick Saban was never one for jokes. The notoriously straight-faced coach ran a tight ship during his time in Tuscaloosa, getting many of his players to the next level to play professional football.

Saban also coached four Heisman Trophy winners, including running back Mark Ingram, who commented in 2021 on Saban's surprise use of jokes while playing at Alabama from 2008 to 2010. Ingram added that Saban could always dish it out but always struggled to take jokes targeted at him.

"He thinks he's a jokester, for sure," Ingram said. "He's serious. Obviously, he wants perfection. He demands it out of you. At the same time, he'll be a jokester with you. He'll throw slick jabs at you.

"At team meetings, he'll try and throw a little joke around. I don't think he can (take a joke). He tries to dish it out, but if you give it back, he'll pull the Saban card on you."

Ingram won the 2009 Heisman Trophy to cap off a breakout campaign for the Crimson Tide. Mark Ingram finished his sophomore campaign with 271 carries for a Southeastern Conference-best 1,658 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns. As a pass-catcher, he added 32 receptions for 334 yards and three more touchdowns.

Alabama football staff members recall "sense of disbelief" following Nick Saban's retirement

It's never easy to replace a Hall of Fame coach, especially when that coach is a six-time national champion with your program. In his 17 years in Tuscaloosa, Nick Saban won four SEC Coach of the Year awards.

In a word, Saban's tenure at Alabama can be summed up as legendary, which made it that much harder when he stepped away from the program in January 2024. In the middle of March, members of Alabama's staff recalled a "sense of disbelief" surrounding the program following Saban's 2024 retirement.

"He was having his normal conversations, we're getting ready to fight for another championship," former Alabama safety and director of player development for the Crimson Tide, Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, recalled. "And towards the end of this conversation, (he was) stumbling a little bit, kind of teary-eyed. You can feel the energy change in the room."

Another director of player development, Denzel Devall, also recalled the moment Saban retired:

"The players are shocked. Everyone is in disbelief. When he walks off the stage, everyone is like, 'Damn, the (greatest of all time) is gone.'"

Nick Saban quickly assumed a role with ESPN's "College GameDay" crew, appearing every Saturday for the program during the 2024 college football season.