Popular CFB insider gives his honest take on Nick Saban's viral ESPY Award speech

CFB insider Kirk Herbstreit praised former Alabama coach Nick Saban’s 2024 ESPYs acceptance speech. Saban received the prestigious ICON Award on Thursday night in Los Angeles, six months after his retirement.

ESPN’s Marty Smith posted Saban’s speech on X/Twitter and urged fans to watch.

“It's a tremendous message,” Smith tweeted. “Few command a room like the GOAT commands a room.”

Retweeting the video, College GameDay analyst Herbstreit wrote:

“Outstanding as always!”

During the speech, Saban delivered a memorable quote from his father.

“People aren’t going to remember what you say,” Saban said. “They’re going to remember how you made them feel.”

He also spoke about the importance of teamwork and the impact made by coaches in the success of their players.

“There’s nothing like being part of a team. That’s what I’m going to miss,” Saban said. “I’ve been part of a team since I was 9 years old.”

“So, with all this help and success, all I ever was the conductor of a process, and our process was to help every player be more successful in life because they were involved in the program.”

The seven-time national championship-winning coach then gave a heartfelt shout-out to his wife, Terry, whose immense support impacted his career.

“You have to have great support from your family,” Saban said. “Ms. Terry's been the love of my life for 52 years and she has supported me in every way as my family has.”

“I certainly appreciate that because there's a lot of sacrifices families make in coaching. We actually moved 17 times before we ever got to Alabama, 17 times.”

Finally, Saban thanked ESPN for the honor and accepted it on behalf of everyone who contributed to Alabama’s success.

Kirk Herbstreit praised Nick Saban's move to ESPN

Saban, who coached the Crimson Tide from 2007 to 2023, announced his retirement in January. A month later, the network announced that Saban will be an on-set analyst for College GameDay where he will join Herbstreit, Rece Davis, Lee Corso, Desmond Howard and Pat McAfee.

During an interview in May on The Mental Game podcast, Herbstreit spoke about his excitement to have the legendary Alabama coach joining him on the show.

“Nick Saban has such a great personality. He’s very serious, he’s very X-O,” Herbstreit said. “But I think people are going to see him smile, they’re going to see him have some fun.”

Saban shares the record of having the second-most wins at a single school in SEC history with Georgia Bulldogs' Vince Dooley.

Outside of Alabama, Saban also led the LSU Tigers to a title win in 2003—cementing his legacy as one of college football's greatest coaches.