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Nick Saban on Morgan Wallen concert walk-out: 'I gave (the band) a halftime ass-chewing'

Danby: Daniel Hager04/29/26DanielHagerOn3

During a stop on the ‘Still The Problem Tour’ at Alabama‘s Bryant-Denny Stadium in mid-April, country music superstar (and Tennessee super-fan) Morgan Wallen was accompanied to the stage by seven-time National Championship winning head coach Nick Saban.

Many athletes/coaches have accompanied Wallen on his legendary walk-out, but none have quite topped the legendary former Alabama coach. A few of these all-time names include Baseball Hall of Famer Chipper Jones, Pro Football Hall of Famer Peyton Manning, three-time Super Bowl Champions Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce, WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan, and Seahawks legend Marshawn Lynch.

During an appearance on Wednesday’s episode of The Paul Finebaum Show, Saban was asked about his legendary walk-out with Wallen. The clip, posted by many on social media, has garnered millions and millions of views.

“That’s the first time I’ve ever walked down that tunnel and there was no consequence in terms of winning and losing a game, so that was fun,” Saban said. “I really enjoyed having the time backstage with those guys, which was the locker room. That was our locker room. Great band, great group of guys. Lot of them were former athletes. It was a lot of fun. They actually got in a big huddle and I gave them a halftime ass-chewing, told them they needed to get in gear.”

Although Saban accompanied Wallen to the stage at Bryant-Denny, this did not stop Wallen from playing his song TN. During the song, in which he talks about his ex-girlfriend not answering phone calls from Tennessee numbers, the light-up bands on the wrists of concert-goers lit up in Tennessee orange. Although Wallen got this dig in, he refrained from playing his song Tennessee Fan. In that song, Wallen references Alabama beating Tennessee before stealing a sorority girl from Tuscaloosa.

Wallen is no stranger to the Alabama–Tennessee rivalry in recent years. Following the Volunteers’ 24-17 win over the Tide in 2024, Wallen walked out at his Charlotte concert smoking a victory cigar. Two years prior, Tennessee upset No. 2 ranked Alabama 52-49 in Knoxville. To celebrate, Wallen and Tennessee legend Peyton Manning parted it up at a Knoxville bar following the win.

It appears as if Nick Saban is certainly enjoying retirement. Walking out to the stage with one of the biggest musical artists in the world, and overshadowing that artist, shows just how legendary the Hall of Fame coach is.