Terry Bradshaw on Nick Saban: Contract is ‘Shameful,’ Saban ‘Hates People’

Nick Saban might be the most beloved man in the entire State of Alabama. However, he has a long way to go before getting in the good graces of Terry Bradshaw.

Saban, who will earn over $11 million in salary alone this upcoming year, became the subject of debate when Terry Bradshaw appeared on the Paul Finebaum Radio Show. During the show, Bradshaw debated Phyllis, the longtime and very loud Alabama fan who frequently calls in to Finebaum.

Bradshaw called Saban’s contract “shameful,” and made an analogy between Saban’s contract and the athletic budget of his alma mater, Louisiana Tech:

Bradshaw: “I understand Saban, that’s your coach. What’s he making, $12 million now? That is the entire athletic budget at Louisiana Tech. The entire budget. That’s shameful! Shameful!”

Phyllis: “Shame? You think the man hasn’t earned it? Do you think the man hasn’t earned every single dollar he has earned at the University of Alabama?”

Bradshaw didn’t just stop at attacking Saban’s contract, he also attacked him personally. Bradshaw said, “If he has the personality of Steve Spurrier, then I would like him. Spurrier, now you’re talking about a great coach. That’s a great coach, Steve Spurrier, not Saban. Saban hates people. The man doesn’t even like people. 12 million. Think about it. I could use a little bit of that money to kind of help pay off my trailer house.”

Saban hates people? Perhaps Bradshaw has access to information the rest of us don’t. But, short of that, Saban’s disdain for talking to the media doesn’t necessarily mean he “hates people.” It’s possible to question how much money someone makes without personal attacks, and Bradshaw should have done that here.

The obvious rejoinder to all this is that the only reason why Saban and other highly paid coaches can make these astronomical salaries is because their players do not earn a salary. While true, between tuition, room and board, food, medical expenses, tutors, and other costs, universities definitely give their athletes something of considerable value, if not an outright salary.

If Bradshaw thinks Saban’s contract a cause for shame, then he should criticize those signing his checks, not the man who cashes them. After all, if someone is willing to throw stupid money at someone, they would be stupid to not accept it.

However, just how “shameful” is Saban’s contract?

For a point of comparison, let’s look at the contract of ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith. Smith literally makes his living by screaming the most insane and unhinged nonsense you can possibly imagine into a camera for two hours a day. He then takes that clown show to Sirius/XM where he repeats that performance for another hour.

For these combined “efforts,” Smith is compensated to the tune of more than $4 million annually. To put that in perspective, James White, who scored the game-winning touchdown while having one of the greatest Super Bowl performances in NFL history, will only make $1,789,272 in 2017, significantly less than half of what Stephen A. Smith will make.

Is that not shameful?

Antonio Brown, considered by many to be the best wide receiver in football, will barely make what Stephen A. makes when combining his base salary and signing bonus, without accounting for his contract restructure.

Granted, Smith’s combined salary is just over a third of what Saban makes. But, which is more shameful? Nick Saban has won five national championships, and will likely go down as the greatest college football coach in history before all is said and done.

If Stephen A. Smith can make over a third of what Nick Saban makes for doing nothing but dispensing takes with the heat of a thousand suns, then maybe Nick Saban needs a raise.

Follow Dylan Gwinn on Twitter: @themightygwinn