This story contains profanity.
Former Alabama football coach Nick Saban made waves on Dec. 7 while performing his analyst duties on ESPN’s College Gameday. Ahead of that day’s SEC championship game between Texas and Georgia, Saban discussed schools that were fined the week before due to flag-planting incidents across college football.
“I think to fine these schools $100,000 is like worrying about mouse manure when you’re up to ears in elephant shit,” Saban said from Gameday’s set in Atlanta, live on ESPN.
The quip was one of several profanities the 7-time national champion uttered during that day’s broadcast. After Gameday went off the air, one concerned viewer in Lee’s Summit, Mo. decided to take action.
At 12:03 p.m. ET, the Federal Communications Commission received a complaint regarding Saban’s swearing. The author wanted significant penalties.
“Nick Saban said the word shit twice, bitch once and something else I can’t remember,” the complaint, obtained by AL.com via a Freedom of Information Act request to the FCC, read in part. “I tune (in) to gain knowledge and insight on college football, not to have profanity stuffed in my face by a former coach trying to be funny. It will continue until you (fine) them a million dollars or more. Chinchy fines accomplish nothing.”
Throughout the college football season, the FCC received three obscenity complaints mentioning Saban. None of them came from the state of Alabama.
The aforementioned complaint was the first one to the FCC. The second came just 18 minutes later, and mentioned Saban’s fellow Gameday analyst, Pat McAfee, who also has his own show on ESPN.
“I continually hear profanity on College Gameday which airs on ESPN,” the author, who purported to be writing from Forest City, N.C., said. “The show comes on at 9am to 12 noon. Children are obviously awake and can be exposed to this broadcast. Today Nick Saban used the profane word ”bullshit” on air. Most every show I watch Pat McAfee is using profanity. I don’t understand why the FCC is not (stopping) this. The window is 6am to 10pm for children sensitive programming. No one is able to sit down with their children and watch a football show without exposing them to the profanity.”
According to the FCC’s enforcement actions log, ESPN did not receive any penalty, $1 million or otherwise. That’s because cable television is not subject to the same obscenity rules as terrestrial TV.
In responding to AL.com’s FOIA request, the FCC made clear that the presence of a complaint did not mean ESPN violated any rules.
“The FCC receives many complaints and comments that do not involve violations of the Communications Act or any FCC rule or order,” Kristi Thornton, deputy division chief of the consumer policy division of the Consumer & Government Affairs Bureau, wrote. “Thus, a complaint or comment does not necessarily indicate any wrongdoing by any individuals or entities named in the complaint or comment.”
Saban’s swearing on air went on throughout the season. The former coach’s proclivity for profanity has been well-documented, from the time he told players who wanted to “talk shit” on the field to “join the goddamn debate team,” on his “Hey Coach” radio show, to the swear jar he reported contributing “about $500″ to during defensive backs meetings in 2023.
Just over a month after the Dec. 7 complaints, the FCC received one more mentioning Saban.
“College Gameday announcers continue to use profanity during their prime time broadcast,” the author from Chantilly, Va. wrote on Jan. 10. “During the Ohio State vs Texas game, Desmond Howard and Pat (McAfee) used inappropriate language for a family event. Nick Saban has used inappropriate language during a broadcast as well. If these men want to use this language, please schedule the games after 9pm.”
An ESPN spokesperson declined to comment regarding Saban’s swearing.
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