"Have always had tremendous respect": When Nick Saban paid classy tribute to Jim Harbaugh & his family for their contribution

It wasn't all that long ago that Nick Saban and Jim Harbaugh were two of the outstanding coaches in college football. The former retired from the sidelines and became a broadcaster, while the latter returned to the NFL after winning Michigan a national title two seasons ago.

The two had an interesting history, but spoke glowingly of one another at a press conference prior to the 2020 Citrus Bowl. The Crimson Tide beat Harbaugh's Wolverines 35-16 in the end.

"You know, I've had the good fortune of having a lot of good mentors through the years," Saban said (0:48). "Whether it was my college coach, Don James, or George Perles at Michigan State in the time that I spent there with him or, you know, Bill Belichick.

"But I've always had a tremendous respect for Jim and his family as coaches. You know, his dad, Jack, kinda came up with me. I was a little younger. He was one of the most respected secondary coaches. That's what I coached. I used to try to visit with him as much as I could."

Revisiting the relationship between Nick Saban and Jim Harbaugh

At the time when satellite camps were popular, Jim Harbaugh and his Wolverines would pack up and train somewhere other than Ann Arbor, partly to draw attention from recruits. Nick Saban was one of its biggest detractors. At the SEC’s annual meeting in Destin, Florida in May 2016, Saban said:

“I don’t know how much it benefits anybody because all the people that say this is creating opportunities for kids, this is all about recruiting. That’s what it’s about. … What’s amazing to me is somebody didn’t stand up and say, here’s going to be the unintended consequences of what you all are doing.

"There needs to be somebody that looks out for what's best for the game, not what's best for the Big Ten or what's best for the SEC or what's best for Jim Harbaugh, but what's best for the game of college football,” Saban added.

Harbaugh was not happy about it and clapped back at Saban on Twitter, now known as X.

"'Amazing' to me- Alabama broke NCAA rules & now their HC is lecturing us on the possibility of rules being broken at camps. Truly 'amazing,'" he tweeted.

However, Nick Saban was complimentary of Harbaugh before their Citrus Bowl matchup.

"I never, ever stop trying to learn, and I would certainly cherish and have tremendous gratitude for the opportunity to be able to sit down with Jim and talk about how he does things and how that could improve our organization," Nick Saban said.

The two coaches met once more in 2024, with Harbaugh winning in a classic Rose Bowl 27-20 en route to a national championship.