A dynamic duo!
This Saturday, Terry Saban, the wife of former Alabama head coach Nick Saban, joined her husband on ESPN to cover the network’s “College GameDay” program.
On Friday, Sept. 27, ESPN announced that Terry Saban will be the celebrity guest picker for “College GameDay” coverage of Alabama vs. Georgia. Nick Saban has been an analyst for the show since he retired earlier this year.
“Hi Alabama fans, it’s Miss Terry,” she said in the video. “As you know College GameDay is coming to Tuscaloosa this Saturday for the Georgia-Alabama game and I’m excited to be the guest picker. So, we need all Crimson Tide fans to come to Denny Chimes Saturday morning. I’ve already been working on my picks, and I think I’m going to beat Nick, I’ll see you there.”
On “College GameDay” Saturday, Nick and Terry Saban shared their picks for which teams they thought would be triumphant on the field. While they had some similar picks, they differed over a few games, including Notre Dame vs. Louisville and UCF vs. Colorado.
“After 52 years, I know if she wins this, I know it’s going to cost me something,” Nick Saban joked at one point during the show.
The Sabans have been married for more than 50 years, and they share two kids, Kristen and Nicholas.
Read on to learn more about Nick Saban’s wife, Terry Saban.
Terry Saban is a philanthropist
In 1998, Nick and Terry Saban founded Nick’s Kids Foundation in honor of the late Nick Saban, Sr. The nonprofit organization aims to raise “awareness and resources for deserving organizations throughout the state of Alabama and beyond,” per its official website.
So far, the Nick’s Kids Foundation has donated nearly $12 million to various organizations and causes. Some of the projects that the organization has completed are renovating a medical center building and building 20 Habitat for Humanity homes.
Terry Saban turned down Nick Saban when they were kids
Terry and Nick Saban’s love story starts when they were kids. While once speaking at the American Football Coaches Association, Nick Saban recalled what it was like to try and date Terry Saban when they were in middle school.
“When I was a kid growing up, my dad owned a service station and we lived in the country. And my wife, who I’ve tried to date from the time I was in the seventh grade, she would never ever date me, never ever go out with me,” he said.
Nick Saban explained that Terry was seeing another guy at the time and said it was difficult to get her attention because she lived a different life in the city.
“She was from the city. She went to East Fairmount. She was the Queen Bee, the drum majorette and all that stuff. I just could not get a date,” he said. “And here I am, the country bumpkin out here pumping gas every day.”
It wasn’t until they got to high school that Nick Saban said Terry “finally noticed” him.
“I finally got a date,” he said.
Terry and Nick Saban have been married for more than 50 years
According to a 2013 Wall Street profile of the couple, Terry and Nick Saban wed in 1971.
In December 2023, the Sabans celebrated 52 years of marriage. In honor of the big milestone, their daughter, Kristen, shared a video of the couple over the years on Instagram.
She captioned it, “52 years of the most loving and inspiring marriage. Happy anniversary, mom & dad 🥹❤️.”
Terry Saban goes by Miss Terry
Nick Saban has often credited his wife with being a “partner” to him professionally throughout his career. At press conferences, he identifies his wife as “Miss Terry,” a nickname that has stuck for Alabama fans.
The Wall Street Journal previously reported that the couple makes big business decisions together and described her as a “behind-the-scenes negotiator for her husband’s coaching contracts.”
“The only thing we use the dining room table for is recruiting,” she told the newspaper at the time.
Terry Saban taught Nick Saban how to be nicer to the media
Nick Saban also credits his wife for helping him with interviews. In October 2023, he recalled some advice that Terry Saban gave him when he realized that he didn’t have a good reputation with the media.
“She looked at me, and she said, ‘Would you ever watch yourself?’ She says, ‘You’re nervous, you’re anxious, you don’t treat them very well, you don’t smile, you don’t ever joke with them, you’re disrespectful to them, you act like they’re not asking you questions sometimes,'” he recalled on the Crimson Tide Sports Network.
It was at that moment that Nick Saban decided to make a change.
