Gameday with Terry Saban

By Kristen Record

Published: November 28, 2008

It’s no secret that Nick Saban takes football extremely seriously. So does his other half - especially when her husband and his team are in action. You’re not going to find a more rabid football fan than Terry Saban.

Normally Terry Saban is a bundle of positive energy. But come kickoff, it’s a whole new ballgame.

“I don’t miss anything that happens on the field,” Terry Saban said. “I’m intense—I have a sore throat afterward, and I’m pounding on the people around me.“

People who are carefully hand picked to sit in Terry Saban’s box. The first lady of the Crimson Tide doesn’t visit with anyone from the opposite team during the game.

She’s tried - inviting friends from LSU to sit in her box last year when the Tigers traveled to Bryant-Denny Stadium.

“Everybody’s happy and having a great time. Then things change, and we get behind. I’m like. ‘Don’t touch me’....“ 

But what happens when Nick Saban loses a game? That hasn’t happened this season, but does Terry have to avoid her husband for a few days when a loss happens?

“It’s not about the winning or the losing. It’s the same questions - what can we learn from this, how can we better, who we playing next so we can improve?,“ Terry Saban said.

It’s a simple formula that is clearly working.

“The process never changes, only the score,“ Terry Saban said.

And what if that score is in the Tide’s favor at the end of their upcoming battles against Auburn and Florida?

“It’s another opportunity to do what’s right and get better for next year,“ Terry Saban said.

It’s an answer true to the Saban formula.

Terry Saban says she does enjoy the games…. the bigger, the better. So she’s looking forward to hosting Auburn on Saturday - her first Iron Bowl on the Tide’s home turf.