Nick Saban jokes about watching Alabama games with Miss Terry for first time: 'I'm a little concerned'

For the first time since 2006, Nick Saban isn’t on the field at Bryant-Denny Stadium for Alabama’s A-Day spring game. He’ll be watching as a fan for the first time, sitting in a box on the east side of the stadium.

It will also mark the first Alabama game he’ll watch alongside Miss Terry. That, he said, will be an adjustment – and he joked he’s a little nervous.

“My biggest concern is being with my head coach, Miss Terry,” Saban told ESPN’s Molly McGrath during the first quarter Saturday. “I’ve never, ever had to watch a game with her. I’m a little concerned.”

Watching games with Miss Terry is just one part of Nick Saban’s adjustment to retirement. While he’s not entirely stepping away from football as an analyst on ESPN’s College GameDay, he no longer has to go through the day-to-day grind of coaching.

“The best thing is I spent 50 years being in a hurry and didn’t even know it” Saban told ESPN’s Laura Rutledge during Friday at The Masters. “So, when I retired and sat back and didn’t have so many things to do, I figured out that that wasn’t normal. This kind of life is a little more normal. Even though I’m staying busy and looking forward to ESPN, doing the draft, doing GameDay … I’m kind of staying busy.

“I didn’t really want to quit working. But I just didn’t want to ride the program down because of my age. And didn’t really want to work all the time.”

But Miss Terry is keeping her husband busy around the house. Saban walked through what she calls the “12 Commandments of Retirement” and the chores he has to do.

If – and when – he completes them, he can go play golf.

“The day after I retired, I got the 12 Commandments of retirement” Saban said. “So, I’ve tried to live by them. But I’ve found out if I do my chores, then I can go play golf. So, I get up early and get my chores done and it’s like, ‘Now do I have a free pass to do what I want to do?’

“I make my bed, I take the garbage out, I have to wait for her to eat together and I have to leave a little food just because that’s polite to tell people that you really thought it was good. Which I grew up cleaning my plate, so that’s not kosher anymore.”