Nick Saban casually admitted to transfer portal tampering at Alabama during the NFL Draft and college fans lost it

Nearly two months ago, former Alabama coach Nick Saban gave an interview to ESPN in which he explained part of his reason for retiring from college football after one of the more dominant runs in the sport’s history.

The game was changing off the field and it was getting exhausting, Saban said.

“I thought we could have a hell of a team next year, and then maybe 70 or 80 percent of the players you talk to, all they want to know is two things: What assurances do I have that I’m going to play because they’re thinking about transferring, and how much are you going to pay me?” Saban told ESPN.

Well, the funny thing is, the transfer portal shenanigans didn’t seem to be much of an issue for the coach when it was working to his benefit.

In fact, Saban casually admitted during Thursday night’s NFL Draft broadcast that he tried getting players to come to Alabama who weren’t even in the portal yet. Specially, Toledo cornerback Quinyon Mitchell, who became the No. 22 overall pick of the Philadelphia Eagles.

“He was our No. 1 guy in the portal last year to try to get him to come out of the portal, and he would never get in the portal,” Saban said on the ESPN broadcast.

Granted, Saban isn’t coaching anymore, so it’s not like the NCAA can really drop the hammer on him — and it’s truly not a shock to learn college coaches are cutting corners in a race to nab the best players — but it is still wild to hear it talked about so informally on a nationally televised broadcast.

If this is the type of insider gossip Saban is going to bring to ESPN’s college football coverage, we could be in for a ride. In the meantime, fans couldn’t believe he straight up admitted to a big NCAA no-no.