Former Alabama Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban has an interesting morning routine. According to reports, he starts his day with a cup of coffee and 15 minutes of the weather channel, which he watches with his wife Terry Saban.
Recently, during the 2024 NFL Draft coverage, Saban made a hilarious response to a question about Oatmeal Creme Pies. He was appearing on set as an ESPN football analyst with Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, and Rece Davis, and they were all snacking on Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pies.
Saban even ate one on the ABC set during the third round of the NFL draft in Detroit. Herbstreit asked about the publicity he has given Little Debbie over the years.
“How much revenue have you generated for them over the years, Coach?”
Saban, in response, said:
“They never even sent me a free box.”
Earlier, during an appearance on Eli Manning’s ESPN+ show Eli’s Places, Manning asked Saban about his “breakfast of champions,” to which Saban replied:
“Part of my motivation for getting up in the morning is I love to have a cup of coffee and two Debbie cookies every day. And when I don’t have them, I’m cranky.”
In 2019, when the Crimson Tide lost to the Clemson Tigers, Little Debbie showed their support by tweeting:
"We baked Nick Saban's two Oatmeal Creme Pies with an extra portion of love this morning."
Moreover, even when Nick Saban retired in January, boxes of Oatmeal Creme Pies were left at the base of his statue outside Bryant-Denny Stadium.
How do two cookies power Nick Saban’s day?
During an appearance on "The Pat McAfee Show", Nick Saban revealed his secret to keeping up with his daily routine. According to Saban, he follows a specific daily routine: letting his dog out, having a cup of coffee, and indulging in two Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme cookies for breakfast.
“I get up, everyday, I let the dog out, I have a cup of coffee, I get two Little Debbie (Oatmeal Creme) cookies, that’s how I start,” Saban said. “I shower, I shave, I do the same thing when I go to work every day.”
The former coach believes that having a routine helped him stay focused and in the moment, a philosophy he tried to instill in his players. Saban has been following this routine for as long as he can remember.
“I’ve been doing this for so long, I can’t remember how long. Somebody asked me this question way back when and I couldn’t remember then.
“Like I said to you guys before they didn’t have such things as obsessive compulsive personalities but that like to do the same things in the same routine all the time and have everything in a certain order but I’m sure that if I got diagnosed that would probably be the (case)."
Saban also revealed that Sundays were the most challenging days for him during the season. However, to ease the stress, he indulges in an extra Little Debbie cookie:
“So at least you can make those corrections with the players on Monday as well as start to install a new game plan for the next opponent so Sunday is a really difficult day for us and I might even eat an extra Little Debbie in the morning then."
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