Alabama Crimson Tide legend Nick Saban has never needed much prompting to remind people where he thinks the real power in college football sits.
On Friday’s episode of “The Pat McAfee Show,” the former Alabama coach offered Miami plenty of praise and then used that praise to take another swipe at the conference the Hurricanes call home.
“I like Miami,” Saban said. “They’re in the ACC, but I love them. I think Mario’s done a great job there. Done a great job recruiting, putting the roster together. They’re well coached. I’ve watched them play. They’re very good. So, let’s take Miami out of the ACC.”
The last sentence landed like a punchline because it was meant to. Saban was not dismissing what Mario Cristobal has built in Coral Gables.
He was isolating Miami from the rest of the ACC, treating the Hurricanes as an exception that proves his larger point about conference strength. In Saban’s telling, Miami is good enough to belong with the country’s elite.
The ACC, as a whole, is not.
That argument has been running between the two coaches for months. Cristobal, who spent four seasons on Saban’s Alabama staff from 2013 to 2016, has made a habit of calling his old boss and trying to sell him on the idea that the ACC can stand next to the SEC. Saban has never bought it.
He has pointed to the SEC’s depth, including multiple teams regularly sitting in the Top 25, and has said Cristobal will never convince him otherwise.
He has also joked that Cristobal is the best salesman in football, the kind of guy who could move used cars in South Florida if coaching ever dried up.
The ribbing goes both ways. After Miami’s playoff run last season, the two traded public jabs over play-calling and clock management.
Cristobal has been quick to note that Saban’s television work may have softened some of the old Alabama instincts. The familiarity is obvious. They still talk. They still needle each other. And Saban still frames Miami’s success as something that happens in spite of the ACC rather than because of it.
Miami opened the 2026 season with two wins after reaching the national championship game a year ago. That only gives Cristobal more material for the next phone call. Saban, for his part, remains unmoved on the bigger picture.
He likes what he sees from the Hurricanes. He likes what Cristobal has done with the roster and the program. He just does not want anyone confusing that respect for an endorsement of the conference they play in.
Taking Miami out of the ACC, even as a joke, is Saban’s way of saying the compliment stops at the program itself.
