Former Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban, maybe by accident, told a little white lie while on live TV in Knoxville on Friday.

Saban, who is in town for the Tennessee Vols’ matchup against the Georgia Bulldogs, joined The Pat McAfee Show and he was asked about recruiting former Crimson Tide running back Derrick Henry.

Henry, who is on track to reach the Pro Football Hall of Fame, was recruited by numerous college football programs as a linebacker.

Saban, however, said that Alabama was the only program to recruit Henry as a running back.

“I don’t want to throw anybody under the bus, so I won’t mention any names, but you can go back and see who all was recruiting him — but nobody, except us, said you can play running back,” said Saban. “Can you believe that? They’re talking about the guy being an outside linebacker…I said because he’s tall, he’s long, and doesn’t fit the running back style that people look for? I said, hell, this guy’s hard to tackle. He’s fast. He’s got a great stiff arm. Why can’t he play running back? I don’t care if he looks a little different than some of these other guys. I said, look, man, we’re recruiting you as a running back, you can do whatever you want to do.”

"The amazing thing is nobody except us said Derrick Henry could play RB..

I told him we're recruiting you as a RB and you can do whatever you wanna do" ~ Coach Saban #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/6ybIOOV0Jv

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) September 12, 2025

Tennessee also recruited Derrick Henry as a running back

Contrary to what Saban said on Friday, Tennessee also recruited Henry as a running back.

In 2012, 247Sports’ Ryan Callahan detailed Henry’s official visit to Tennessee.

Callahan noted in his article that Henry was being recruited by the Vols as a running back.

Former Vols running back Jay Graham, who served as Tennessee’s running backs coach in 2012, was Henry’s primary recruiter at UT.

“I went to the game and talked to the coaches. They were spending time with me, telling me what they need and how they felt about the team,” said Henry in 2012. “And just sitting at the game, what they were saying was right, with the running back situation.”

Saban, of course, ended up landing Henry. And that was obviously the right choice by Henry — he won a national championship during his time at Alabama.

But saying that Alabama was the only school to recruit Henry as a running back simply isn’t an accurate statement from Saban.

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