Nick Saban Officially Names His College Football Sleeper Team This Year

Legendary head coach Nick Saban, now a member of ESPN "College GameDay," dropped his pick for this year’s college football sleeper team on Saturday morning from Dublin, Ireland.

After calling it quits this past offseason, Saban stepped away from his iconic career on the sidelines. But let’s be real—we knew he wouldn’t stay away from the game for long. He’s now joining the "College GameDay" crew, bringing his football wisdom to Saturday mornings at 9 a.m.

In his first appearance, ahead of Saturday's showdown between No. 10 Florida State and Georgia Tech, Saban made his pick for this year's sleeper team in the ACC, choosing the Yellow Jackets.

"My sleeper, though, is Georgia Tech," Saban said. "I really do believe that. They were in the top 3 offensively last year in the ACC. They were not very good on defense. They got a new defensive coordinator."

Georgia Tech finished last season with a 7-6 record. Head coach Brent Key, an alum of Georgia Tech, is preparing for his second full year in charge. Key returned to Georgia Tech as a coach in 2019, initially serving as the offensive line coach until 2022. Following former boss Geoff Collins' dismissal during the 2022 season, Key took over as the interim head coach and was later officially appointed as the head coach.

"They got some players out of the portal," Saban added. "If they can play defense a little bit better, they give people tremendous headaches with their offense, their running quarterback."

As Saban noted, it won't be easy to contain Georgia Tech’s dual-threat quarterback, Haynes King. King, a redshirt junior who spent three years at Texas A&M before transferring to Georgia Tech, will be leading the Yellow Jackets' offense for the second season in a row.

In his college career so far, King has thrown for 4,421 yards, 37 touchdowns, and 26 interceptions.

In 2024, Georgia Tech is scheduled to play five teams ranked in the preseason AP Poll. In addition to Saturday's game against No. 10 Florida State, they will also face No. 7 Notre Dame, No. 19 Miami, No. 24 NC State, and No. 1 Georgia.

Related: Nick Saban Says This SEC Program Can 'Match Up With Anybody' In 2024