Nick Saban is arguably the most successful head coach in college football today. That doesn’t mean he’s the most beloved. Jadeveon Clowney, one of the most lauded high school recruits in recent memory, apparently hated Saban’s visit to his home in South Carolina. He had no kind words for the Alabama coach at the time, as recalled in an upcoming book by Monte Burke about Saban called “Nick Saban: The making of a coach.“
Jadeveon Clowney trashes Nick Saban: ‘The guy ain’t nothing but 5-foot-5’
Jadeveon Clowney HATED his in-home meeting with Nick Saban.
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"I don't see no big deal like everybody else," Clowney said (via the Houston Chronicle). "They'd say, ‘He's the king of all of football.' The guy ain't nothing but 5'5. He's a short guy. Everybody's going crazy on Nick Saban.
“He talked the whole time he was there. I was dozing off. He can talk. A lot. He talked for a whole straight hour.”
Clowney stayed close to home and committed to Steve Spurrier and the South Carolina Gamecocks in 2011, though he did admit in the book that he would have committed to Alabama “a long time ago” if only it ran a 4-3 instead of a 3-4 defense. He went on to have a stellar career anyway, winning SEC Defensive Player of the Year and the Hendricks Award as the nation’s best defensive end in 2012. In 2014, Clowney was the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft by the Houston Texans.
Saban’s Crimson Tide, meanwhile, won two national championships while Clowney was in school, so Clowney and Saban did just fine without each other. South Carolina is the biggest winner of all, of course, with a one-game winning streak over the Tide going back to 2010.
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