Nick Saban proclaims he is 'jumping on the bandwagon' with Vanderbilt

Just over a year ago, Nick Saban said Vanderbilt was the only place to play that wasn’t difficult in the SEC. Now, 13 months later, Saban is with ‘College GameDay’ in Nashville, preparing for a Top 15 matchup hosted by No. 10 Vanderbilt at FirstBank Stadium.

Saban credited the investment and turnaround of the athletic department by the Commodores while live on ‘The Pat McAfee Show’ from West End on Friday. He pointed all around the stadium and athletics area that was not there when he last coached there back in 2017.

“I mean, that wasn’t there the last time I was here, this wasn’t here, the basketball arena wasn’t there,” Saban said as he looked around from the set inside the stadium at Vandy. “So, they have made a commitment, and it’s working and I think it’s good for the league.”

Sticking just to the football program, Vanderbilt is 13-7 (.650) over the past two seasons. That includes the 40-35 upset win last season over No. 1 Alabama in Nashville following those comments made by Saban. It also now features a 6-1 record so far this fall, with the Commodores being ranked in the Top 10 for the first time since 1947 as they’re off to their best start since 1950. A win tomorrow then puts Vanderbilt a win closer to being in legitimate contention to be in either the SEC Championship, or even the College Football Playoff.

With that, Vanderbilt is the latest example of this new modern success in collegiate sports to Saban. Programs are finding out that you can win just about anywhere, with the Commodores investing as such.

“I think that the culture of college football now, relative to no guardrails, gives places like this the opportunity, if they want to make a commitment, which they did here. Not only in the facilities but they have a competitive, you know, collective where they have a chance to get some of these players in,” Saban said. “They made some academic adjustments where they can get some transfers in that are freshmen, sophomores, or graduates. So, they’ve done the things that they needed to do to have a competitive program, and it’s paid off for them. And, you know, I still say this all the time.

“This is a great academic institution, but the window that people look at this institution is really going to be a lot through the athletic program, and there’s no way that they can get more exposure than having GameDay here and playing in a big game, like they did last week against LSU and they’re going to do this week against Missouri.”

Now, Saban is the latest to join the bandwagon with Vanderbilt. He had still been doubting them, but he’s officially jumping on when it comes to the Commodores.

“I have picked against them time and time again,” Saban said. “And I want everybody out there to know that I am a JO. You know what that means? I’m jumping on the bandwagon.”