Nick Saban has officially changed his tune on Vanderbilt football. The former Alabama coach, who once called them the easiest place to play in the SEC, announced live on College GameDay in Nashville that he's now backing the surging Commodores. It's quite the flip from his previous stance.

ESPN's College GameDay posted on X, formerly Twitter, during their Nashville broadcast, as Saban publicly declared his support for the program he used to dominate at Alabama.

“Coach Saban is jumping on the Vanderbilt bandwagon,” Saban said on the show.

The moment came after Pat McAfee reminded Saban about his previous comments. McAfee pointed out how Vanderbilt used to be one of those low-profile games that teams like Alabama breezed through without much resistance.

Saban made waves back in September 2024 when he appeared on The Pat McAfee Show and said that Vanderbilt was the one SEC venue “not hard to play.” He explained that the visiting fan presence made it feel less hostile than other conference road games, essentially calling it the conference's softest environment.

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Those words didn't age well. The Commodores played that exact clip inside FirstBank Stadium before shocking the top-ranked Crimson Tide 40-35 on October 5, 2024. It marked Vanderbilt's first-ever win over an AP No. 1 team and its first victory over Alabama since 1984.

The Commodores entered Week 9 of 2025 with a 6-1 record and a No. 10 AP ranking, their highest since 1947. They've beaten South Carolina and LSU, both ranked opponents, while quarterback Diego Pavia has thrown 15 touchdowns through seven games.

Clark Lea's team has College GameDay visiting Nashville for their matchup with No. 15 Missouri. The program that Saban dominated 4-0 during his Alabama run, outscoring Vanderbilt 172-13, now has the legendary coach publicly backing them.

Saban never lost to Vanderbilt in four meetings, including a 59-0 rout in 2017 and a 55-3 blowout in 2022. His public support now feels like the ultimate redemption arc for a program he once dismissed.