Lions' Brian Branch Shares Memory of Being Struck by Nick Saban

What is and is not appropriate behavior from a coach? There’s a fine line between pushing your players in training and flat-out abusing them. Sometimes that comes to light in the moment; at other times, it can take lengthy investigations to get to the bottom of things. And then there’s the case of now-retired Alabama football coach Nick Saban, about whom one of his former players shared a story in which Saban doesn’t come off terribly well.

The former player was Brian Branch, who played for Saban from 2020 to 2022. In an appearance on the St. Brown Podcast, Branch was asked if he had a Nick Saban story to tell. Turns out he did.

“I had gotten into it one day at practice,” Branch told hosts Amon-Ra and Equanimeous St. Brown. “It was with a lineman, and he had hit me.” From there, things escalated until there was, in Branch’s words, “a defensive-offensive brawl.”

“Coach Saban snuck a little punch in with the offensive lineman,” Branch continued. He later clarified that it “just felt like a slap.”

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As NJ.com’s Todderick Hunt pointed out in his article, Branch didn’t seem terribly fazed by the events. On the podcast itself, the St. Browns can be heard telling Branch that they can remove the audio of his Saban story; presumably, he’s fine with it reaching a wider audience. And in terms of coaches clashing with players, this doesn’t rank too close to the top of the charts.

For his part, Saban donned a Nittany Lion costume before Penn State’s game against Ohio State earlier today. Football can be a strange sport sometimes.