Alabama football head coach Nick Saban used to coach LSU. During his time with the Tigers he tried to recruit Michael Oher, subject of The Blind Side.
Saban related some hilarious anecdotes from that movie, which he appeared in, during his Thursday radio show. It was a live show in which fans were able to ask the coach questions, and Saban made it clear that he had some demands before he’d appear in the movie.
Saban almost didn’t appear in the movie at all.
“I did no acting in The Blind Side. It was not considered acting,” Saban said, via SECCountry.com. “They gave me a script, the director gave me a script. I didn’t want to be in the movie because I was the coach here (Alabama), and I was the coach at LSU in the movie so I thought the fans here would all get mad at me if I was the LSU coach in a movie.”
In the end, he appeared in the movie only after making it clear he wouldn’t wear LSU clothing.
“So I refused and Fred Smith, who was a pretty powerful guy with FedEx and all that, produced the movie and talked me into doing it. I told him I’d do it, but I’m not going to wear LSU clothes. He said ok. Then the director comes in and gives me a script and says ‘Ok, here’s your lines. Here’s what we want you to say.’ I said, ‘Hey buddy, I was there. I did this.’”
At this point, the crowd burst into laughter. Saban continued to relate the story, showing just how influential he is.
“I said ‘Why can’t I just do what I did? I’ll just say what I said when I come to the front door, I’ll say what I said when I sat down and talked to the player, Michael, and the little boy that was there. I’ll just say it, and if you don’t like it, I’ll do your script.’ So, I did it that way and he liked it so I never did the script.
“In my opinion, there was no acting at all,” Saban said, smiling. “To me if you act, they give you a script and you act like somebody else. All I did was just be myself and did exactly what I did. Coaching the team’s harder, I guess is what I’m trying to say.”
At least we know Saban isn’t devoid of passion. And it’s pretty cool how he was thinking about how Alabama fans might react to him wearing an LSU outfit. Just don’t ask him if he cares about a once-in-a-lifetime eclipse.
Alabama and LSU are staunch rivals. Saban’s crew will get a crack at their SEC foes on November 4, in Baton Rouge.