Nick Saban didn’t know it was coming. The former Alabama football head coach was working Friday evening ahead of the College Football Playoff’s Cotton Bowl semifinal, in his job as an analyst for ESPN’s College Gameday.

His teammates on the show were aware of Saban’s selection as a part of the 2025 College Football Hall of Fame class. The man who won six national championships in Tuscaloosa was not.

“When did that happen?” Saban asked after Rece Davis informed him of the news, a year to the day after his retirement as coach. “I didn’t know anything about that.”

The former coach grinned and shook hands with his ESPN coworkers. Pat McAfee passed him a football recognizing the accomplishment.

Saban then made a brief speech, deflecting the accolades, as was his custom throughout his career.

“Thank you so much,” Saban said. “But anytime anything like this happens, it’s because you had a lot of great people in your organization. A lot of great players, lot of great coaches, lot of support staff, and they made a great team. And I was happy to drive the bus, but we had some great people on it, so thank you so much.”

According to the National Football Foundation, the rest of the hall of fame class will be announced Jan. 15. Saban and his fellow 2025 class members will be inducted Dec. 9 in Las Vegas.