Josh Jacobs Shares Heated Moment with Nick Saban While at Alabama

Josh Jacobs has an incredible story, going from sleeping in the car with his five siblings to now being one of the premier running backs in the NFL, and the fifth-highest-paid running back in the league. Jacobs' story is one of dedication, hard work, and desire to make a better life for himself and his family.

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However, Jacobs' story once he left Tulsa, Oklahoma, isn't all glitz and glamour. Jacobs arrived in Tuscaloosa as a three-star recruit and was buried on the Crimson Tide's depth chart in 2017 behind Najee Harris, Damien Harris, and Bo Scarbrough. His usage was far and few in between, playing primarily on special teams and mop-up duty in his first two years at Alabama. During his junior year, Jacobs once again found himself as third fiddle in the Tide's backfield. He was so frustrated, he almost left Alabama.

"I scored a touchdown, because I played, but I don't think - I think I've only got more than 15 carries like in one game, my whole college career. ... That Ole Miss game, I scored a touchdown, and I got a taunting penalty. Typical Saban fashion, especially when it's something controllable, he cussed me out. So I'm like 'ah sh*t,' so I eat it. He cussed me out, I gotta eat that," Jacobs told Ryan Clark and The Pivot Podcast.

Saban wasn't done.

"A couple of drives went by, and he came back, he tried to cuss me out again, and I'm like, 'hold on.' So I get up - and you know Saban's short - so I'm like, 'Bro, what we on,' and I'm mad. It's right before halftime, so we go into halftime, and I take my pads off. I'm like, 'Bro, I'm good. Like, I'm done with this sh*t. I'm finna figure it out, transfer, whatever.' I talked to Coach Locks (Mike Locksley), and coach is like, 'Man, what's going on?' We started talking."

Jacobs made sure Saban saw him next time he touched the ball.

"Long story short, I come back out and they kick the ball off. I was the kick returner, I took it like 70, 80 yards; didn't even celebrate. I just stared [Saban] down the whole time. I ran to the sideline, staring him down the whole time."

Jacobs and Saban were able to smooth things over, though, and it resulted in Jacobs having a strong second half of his junior season on his way to becoming a first-round draft pick.

"The next day, me and him had a meeting. We sat down, and we had a real conversation, and then after that, they started making plays for me in the offense and things like that. My career just started taking off."

Wyatt Fulton is the Tide 100.9 DME and Brand Manager, primarily covering Alabama Crimson Tide football and men's basketball. For more Crimson Tide coverage, follow Wyatt on X (Formerly known as Twitter) at @FultonW_.