Tua Tagovailoa once spilled the tea on seeing $70M worth Nick Saban fume over botched play: “That's probably the most pissed off he's ever been”

Nick Saban has nurtured and guided several student-athletes who have now become huge NFL stars. One such player who grew up under the coaching of the former Alabama Crimson Tide head coach was Tua Tagovailoa, who is now the starting quarterback of the Miami Dolphins.

When Tua was a freshman playing for the Crimson Tide, he made Nick Saban very upset but then magically took care of the situation.

The time when Tua Tagovailoa made Nick Saban see red

Tua Tagovailoa became a national superstar overnight in the 2018 College Football Playoff final when he overtook QB1, Jalen Hurts, in the second half and led Alabama to an impressive victory. His performance gave all the thrills and fun to every football fan, but when the team trailed 23-20 after giving up a field goal in the Georgia Bulldogs' first overtime drive, he gave up a costly sack on a first-and-10 play.

The sack could have changed the fate of the Crimson Tide. However, Tua's talented side shone through when he ended the game with a charming 41-yard touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith.

When the 26-year-old appeared on The Rich Eisen Show in February 2020, he said that he made coach Nick Saban furious because of his costly sack. Tua said:

“I could only see it on camera, how mad he was. That was probably the most pissed off though I think he’s ever been at me. He was squeezing his headset so hard.”

Saban was notorious for being highly demanding of his athletes and often being strict on the sidelines. That is why, despite Tagovailoa leading the Crimson Tide to a magnificent win, the $70 million coach (per Clutch Points) was fixated on the sack in the locker room.

"When we got into the locker room when everything settled down, he was still the same coach. He pulled me to the side like ‘what were you thinking taking a sack?’"

In fact, the coach only got madder when Tagovailoa brushed off the sack as a joke.

"And I thought it was a good time to joke with him – I mean, we won the national championship. So I told him ‘well we needed more room to throw the ball, coach.’"

"He looked at me, and like, I was laughing. He’s like ‘that’s not funny.’ I mean, I didn’t know what else to do in that situation. I was like ‘OK, I’m sorry coach."

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