The SEC coaches have always used the offseason as a time to take jabs at their rival teams and fellow coaches with witty one-liners. Most of those came at annual booster tours, which were basically offseason pep rallies. Now, thanks partly to the growth of social media as well as a few recent slip-ups directed at Alabama coach Nick Saban, that kind of back-and-fourth frivolity could be a thing of the past, ESPN reported on Thursday.
"I think it's sad that you can't go to your whatever clubs and just have a little fun and get everybody to get a good laugh," Georgia coach Mark Richt told ESPN. "They come to see their coaches and they're all true-blue Bulldogs or whatever contingent they're with. If you can't say anything about anybody else without it becoming a big issue, it makes it less fun."
Of course, it also could mean less apologies. Florida coach Will Muschamp and athletic director Jeremy Foley called Saban to apologize for an assistant coach's words at a recent booster club.
Florida offensive line coach Tim Davis, a former colleague of Saban, called his former boss "the devil himself."
"I was very disappointed with what Tim said," Muschamp said Wednesday. "I don't think it's reflective of how his true opinion of Nick and the opportunities that Nick gave him at Miami and at Alabama. I've talked to Nick about the subject, and Tim, and we've moved forward. And I'm just very disappointed."
Saban shared the feelings of disappointment.
"It's not really bothersome to me," Saban said. "I was disappointed because when guys work for you, you have feelings for them. You're hopeful that they don't feel that way. But if somebody did feel that way, I just wish they'd tell me because I'm not trying to make anybody feel bad.”
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