The year was 2009 — a season which saw Alabama win its first national championship under head coach Nick Saban, who was then three years into his tenure with the Tide.
In the closing minutes of the SEC Championship Game against No. 1 Florida, star running back Mark Ingram gleefully pranced to the sideline in Saban’s direction.
The score being 32-13, the No. 2 Crimson Tide was only seconds away from avenging its loss to Florida in the previous season’s SEC title game.
It was in this moment that the near unthinkable would happen — an event one could never imagine taking place given Saban’s seemingly always joyless demeanor. Ingram, who in the following week would go on to become Alabama’s first Heisman Trophy winner, leaped into Saban for a chest bump.
As the game clock was nearing zero, Saban had a decision to make: To reciprocate the chest bump, or to forgo it. Saban, who was all smiles, did the inconceivable. The head coach, a generous five-feet and six inches in stature, chest bumped Ingram.
During a Thursday interview with ESPN’s Marty Smith, Saban was asked to recall the rare occurrence. Saban, however, could not remember the event taking place.
While not being able to recollect the chest bump, the seven-time national championship coach acknowledged how much he enjoyed players partaking in the celebratory act.
“2009. Man, that’s a while back,” Saban said with a chuckle. “Well let me just say this: You know, I love it when players celebrate together. I think it’s great for team chemistry. It shows how much they care about each other — get the opportunity to show the excitement that you have for somebody else’s success. And I think those are all great things. I think chest-bumping is a big part of that.
‘And I’m just glad somebody would want to chest bump with me.”
Saban, who routinely coaches his players the hardest near the game’s end, expressed his disinterest in chest-bumping until the game’s conclusion.
“Well, I think that I would not be interested in chest-bumping that much before the game’s over, because I don’t think you should celebrate until the game’s over,” he said. “But I enjoy the celebration.”
Saban’s 2009 squad would go on to defeat Texas 37-21 in the BCS National Championship Game at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.
Dylan Smith is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @DylanSmithAL
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