Pete Thamel, it appears, may have orchestrated the whole thing.

During the third round of the NFL Draft last month, former Alabama coach Nick Saban, who made his debut as an analyst, had a viral moment for eating a Little Debbie during ABC’s coverage of the draft.

As it turns out, the whole scene evolved from the power of Saban.

During a commercial break, snacks were handed out.

“We were all getting punchy because we were tired,” Rece Davis shared on the “College GameDay” podcast. “And (Saban) just looked at me and goes, ‘Where are the oatmeal creme pies?’ It also showed the power of Saban that those were produced very quickly.”

That’s when Thamel jumped into action.

“I may have heard that in my ears in the truck and got them going, got some of the folks to bring them up there,” Thamel said. “Because I was on the ears at that point. My voice might not have worked, but I had some common sense to know what to do.”

Saban revealed at the time, despite his love for the Little Debbie snacks, he hasn’t received any free Oatmeal Creme Pies for his free publicity.

The plan was to eat the oatmeal pies during the break, but a producer pitched another idea.

“When the oatmeal creme pies, the Little Debbies came up, our producer Jim Gaiero really — you want to develop the relationship with the new guy on the set,” Davis said. “And Jim gets in my ear and says, ‘Do you think he’ll get mad if we show him eating an oatmeal creme pie on television?’ And I said, ‘Nah, just do it.’ I said, ‘I’ll eat one, too.’ Before long I think we were all chowing down.”

Mark Heim is a reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim. He can be heard on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5 FM in Mobile or on the free Sound of Mobile App from 6 to 9 a.m. daily.