Nick Saban accuses Texas A&M of piping in noise at Kyle Field

Kyle Field is widely considered one of the best venues in college football. But during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show on Thursday, former Alabama head coach Nick Saban accused Texas A&M of piping artificial noise into the stadium, increasing the venue’s sound level.

“I don’t think there’s any question about it,” Saban said when asked if Kyle Field is one of the greatest fan venues in the world. “I did more complaining to the SEC office—it was more than complaining that I don’t really want to say on this show—about this is the noisiest place. Plus, they pipe in noise.

“They pipe in noise. I mean, you can’t hear yourself think when you’re playing out there. And, it is a huge advantage when they play at home, especially for their defense, especially getting off the spot. Makes it really difficult for the offensive line.”

Venues are not allowed to pipe in artificial noise during live play, per the NCAA’s rules. Additionally, artificial noise can’t be used to disrupt the opponent’s signals or cadence.

Miami will learn about the difficulty of playing in Kyle Field on Saturday when it squares off against Texas A&M in the first round of the College Football Playoff. As a 7-seed in the playoff, the Aggies host their opening game.

The Hurricanes can expect to face a rowdy environment. Kyle Field holds over 102,000 people and the game Saturday will be Texas A&M’s first appearance in the CFP. Earlier this week, Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko delivered a message to the Aggies’ fanbase.

“You have wanted this for a long time. You have wanted a program that would compete and play big games on big stages,” Elko said. “To get an opportunity to do it right here in Kyle Field for the first time is special. And so this is a thank you to all of them for their support all year and maybe a rallying cry to say let’s make Saturday the best environment we’ve had in Kyle in a really long time.”

Texas A&M will be hungry for a win after suffering its first loss of the season in its regular-season finale against Texas. The loss prevented the Aggies from appearing in the SEC Championship game.

Texas A&M and Miami will face off at 11 a.m. CT on Saturday. The game will air live on ABC and ESPN. The winner will advance to the CFP quarterfinals to play against Ohio State.