The Josh Innes Show - Will the Nick Saban Documentary Be Good?

Episode Date: October 8, 2026

I was reading a review of the "Saban" documentary and the writer pointed out that the doc only goes as far as Nick Saban will let it go. Well, duh. That's the tradeoff for access. If the subject gives you access, just know you're not gonna get a ton of interesting stuff. Who would make a better subject for a 6 part docuseries...Nick Saban or Johnny Manziel? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I enjoy this headline. This is from awful announcing, which I guess I see all the time. But this headline reads, ESPN Sabin docu-series goes as deep as Nick Saban allows it to. Well, here's the thing, pal. That's how most docu-series work when the person who's part of the series, the person that is the subject of the series, that's how it works. Like they're not going to go any deeper than they will. want you to. Actually, let's play a couple commercials and get into this. All right. So awful announcing.

Congratulations on on really unearthing this little nugget here. But apparently this Nick Saban documentary doesn't go as deep as people may like. Now, you'll learn a lot about the legendary coach during the six episodes series despite his best efforts, says the headline. Let's see. That's the question college football fans have been asking themselves for decades. We all know he's the Terminator-like coach who won seven national titles and carved a path through the sport unlikely to be topped in our lifetime. We know he has an unhealthy desire for his team to decimate its opponent and that nothing, not even a championship, can satiate him.

But like, who is the guy underneath all of that? What does he think about when he looks in the mirror? What memory forever nags him at the moment in quiet moments? Let's see. What fear is in the back of his mind that he can't shake? What does he feel about the summation of his life and career now that he's retired? I don't know that we find all the answers to those questions in the six-parties ESPN original docu-series, which premieres at 6 p.m. Thursday, blah, blah, blah, blah.

All right. Here's the thing. The thing about documentaries, docuseries, particularly those where the subject, of the docu series is interviewed throughout the whole thing, that person will have a ton of say into what ends up in the final version. The only real quote unquote truth you're going to get in a docu series or a documentary, honestly, is when the subject, especially if the subject is either a controversial person or something that has controversial things, if that person's not involved, you may get a truer breakdown of what that person is.

person is or who that person is, right? And because no one's going to tell you every wart about them because Nick Saban doesn't have to tell you all of his wards. Same way that Michael Jordan in the last dance didn't have to tell you all the shit about his life and all of his wards. He tells you what he wants you to know and they craft that. And you have to know that going into it. Going into this, you have to know that you have to know that you're,

not going to get the full on truth. You're going to get the story that the subject wants you to know. And I'm fine with that. Like, I know that going into it. Watching the last dance, you know you're not going to get every single truthful detail out of Michael Jordan because Michael Jordan has the last say in what goes out. Nick Saban, who's the Michael Jordan of college football coaching is not going to tell you every single thing about his life or give you every detail about his life. He's not going to do that. So, like, I don't know what you expect to this. I think it's going to be interesting. I think Nick Saban's a somewhat interesting guy. I'm looking forward most to the LSU shit from this, of course, for obvious reasons.

I'm always wondering what would have happened if Nick Saban would have never flirted with the NFL, if Nick Sabin never goes on to the pros and he stays at LSU. for 100 years. Would he have stayed at LSU for 100 years? Could he have stayed at LSU for 100 years? Did he need to? Like, there are questions I would like to have answered. The thing is, Sabin's actually answered a lot of these questions since he's been retired since he's kind of loosened up at least a little bit. And he's kind of become this character that's a little bit more fun on TV. And, you know, the whole, hey, it's me and Miss Terry and all, like all the shit you get. Like, he's kind of answered some of those questions. But he's intimated that, you know,

One of his regrets was leaving LSU. He knows how special LSU is for getting talent. He knows all that shit. He also knows that he's the reason why LSU became what it is now. There ain't no other coach at LSU was doing that before Nick Saban got there. So Nick Saban made this last 25 years of LSU. When he got there in 99 and 2000, Nick Sabin turned LSU into what it's been for a quarter century.

It was a sleeping giant up until that point that had brief moments of success. The 90s were mostly a fucking waste. The 80s had some really nice shit, but it was a sleeping giant, and Nick Saban went in there and took care of fucking business and turned LSU into a behemoth. And that's why Nick Saban won a title. That's why Les Miles, who's seemingly not that great of a coach won a title. That's why Coach O won a title. Brian Kelly didn't win a title. He's just not meant to till he goes to Rutgers and wins one.

And then why Lane Kiven's going to win 30 of them. But the point in this is you're not going to get. the real truth in these things, and you have to know that going in. Like, that's not going to disappoint me because ultimately this is a, basically a publicity, not stunt, but it's a, you know, this is a parade for Nick Saban as he hangs it up. This is a love letter to Nick Saban, essentially. This is not a let's dig deep and find scandal involving Nick Saban type of documentary.

Those documentaries that pimp themselves as that and then end up being a letdown, Those are the ones that piss me off. Like when you watch these ones on Netflix, I forgot what they call that series on Netflix, but like the Johnny Mansell documentary. The Johnny Mansell documentary was one of the great disappointments ever. Like, because you want more, like, first of all, a good documentary about a subject,

especially if that's a subject that's, you know, a really interesting person that's got a deep history and had a lot of successes and controversies and drama, that needs to be longer than 45 minutes to an hour. The fact that Johnny Mansell documentary, and I think I'm right on this, the Mansell documentary was a whopping like hour and 12 minutes. You could, dude, you can do an hour and 12 minutes just on Johnny Mansell at the fucking Dixie Chicken.

Like, give me that. Like, that should just be one episode, hour and 12 minutes. Johnny Manzell at the Dixie Chicken. A whole series on that. Like, you cannot tell me that Johnny Mansell isn't worthy of four episodes an hour apiece. No, that's the, I mean, that guy's interesting. Like, I don't even know that Nick Saban's interesting enough for a six-part series. Like, because Nick Saban, like, what's the most interesting thing about Sabin?

Well, he's obsessed with winning, and even when he wins, he doesn't really enjoy it. But what, like, wacky shit has gone on with Nick Sabin? Like, what, like, the best documentaries are about people that have just got fucked up, shit in their lives. There's not something super fucked up about Nick Saban, you know, like he wasn't out there getting high, you know, before NFL games. Like I think Mansell, was that something in a recent development that Manzell was talking about how before every game in Cleveland, he and I forgot which team made it was, but they

would just like just get blazed in his apartment before every game. Let's see. Mansell smoking pot. Let's see. This from a couple days ago. Let's see. Johnny Mansell just told one of the wildest stories. Let me see if I can find that on Instagram and play the audio from this here. Let's see here.

And this story was about him smoking pot before games. Hold on. I don't want to hear whatever that is. Let's see. Johnny Manzel pot. Let's see if anything pops up on Instagram. Let's see. Johnny Manzel story. I don't know if this was in the documentary or not

like where's this let's see Johnny Mansell Potts story if I can find this here and we can listen to it let's see recently recounted a game day routine from his time with the let's see if that where is this story from it couldn't have been in the documentary let's see is this the one

or drugs the drugs that like tear you down never did anything with needles that's from never did anything like that anyway I guess I should have thought of this but I didn't going into it. Can I find this story please? Can you guys guide me to this story about Johnny Mansell

and his smoking pot? Like Johnny Mansell has so many fucking stories, man. Remember, after I get cut in Cleveland, I learned about casino credit and like getting a wire and like walking to the table and taking a hundred

K out and being like, all right, start with 10, fucking lose it. I'm out of 10, 20, and you look up by the fucking end of a weekend you're going out and you're drinking and you just fly through a hundred grand like no problem no worries chasing just like tough spot to be in i remember like forgetting about it going on another trip and like going on a run and then getting a call like go you have 24 hours until you pay this marker off for the people in las Vegas are going to send a felony conviction out for your ass and they're coming to get you and it was like oh shit see like that

that's a documentary. Like, that's the kind of subject matter you need in a documentary. Apparently, it was Mansell and Josh Gordon. I think this is the story. Now, this is on Facebook here. Let's see if I can read. Oh, damn it, it won't pop up for me. Let's see.

Smoking Pot, Josh Gordon. Let's see if I can get some details on this story. All, here we go. Johnny Mansell reveals 5 a.m. Game Day FIFA and smokes. See, that, that is a story. Let's see. Let me see if I can actually find the audio on this.

Johnny Man, let's see, Johnny Mansell. Let's see, Johnny Mansell, FIFA story. Let's see here. Just told one of the wildest stories. Here we go. Stay at the team hotel on Saturday nights into Sunday morning. I would set an alarm if we had a game day at like noon or whatever it was. I would set an alarm at like 5 a.m.

I would leave the team hotel at 5 a.m. Me and J.G. would walk from downtown Cleveland Hotel we were at to my building. We would go to my building. We would turn FIFA on and we would rip the fucking bong all morning and smoke a blunt. And he would go play some snaps or he would be suspended and wouldn't be playing. And I was the backup. And I ain't never touched the field one time after doing that. But you guys did do it.

You could do a whole documentary Just about Johnny Mansell Ripping a bong And playing FIFA before games Like this guy And I mean this wholeheartedly Johnny Mansell And it sounds ridiculous

Because ultimately he failed And you know He fucked up his life But like the level of not give a fuck Possessed by Johnny Manzell Like there was a standup I forgot which standup I guess just now it's seen the Johnny Mansell documentary.

And he did a whole bit about how this guy is arguably the most badass person ever. Let's see, Johnny Mansell, where's the comedian that did this bit about him? Let's see, Johnny Manzell comedian stand up. Let's see if anything pops up here. Let's see, this guy does this bit about Johnny Manzell. Here it is. Oh, it's what's his name, Tom Segura? Tony Mansell is the first and only redshirt freshman to win the Heisman trophy.

That's the highest honor in college football. It goes to the nation's best player. Redshirt freshman simply means he was 18 months removed from high school. When he didn't just play this sport, he dominated it. And when you watch this documentary, you will learn that he did this while mostly high and drunk. Like pretty fucked up. The best is they interview all his form. former shit kicking Texas-based coaches who were like,

yeah man, he would come to practice, he'd be all shit-face. And we would say, Johnny, you better not fuck this up. And then he didn't, he was awesome. And you're like, wait, what? He was playing nationally televised games every Saturday with millions of viewers, either drunk, high, or hungover, just on the sidelines.

And his coach, he was. his coaches are like, Johnny! And he was like, watch this shit. Six touchdowns. You're like, holy shit, give him more. This is working. He wins the Heisman. Sophomore year, he comes back. He's trying new things. He's sprinkling dust on his shit, you know? He's evolving. He plays amazing. Again, he almost wins it back to back. Then he goes in the NFL to play professionally. And they're like, you need to clean up your act. And he was like, I don't want to play football anymore. And that's the whole story. But like I was so disappointed in the Mansell documentary

because that thing should have been eight parts. Like it's wild to think about this. There was a 10-part series about the greatest basketball player, maybe the greatest athlete that ever lived, Michael Jordan. And I think you could have done an equal 10-hour, 10-parts documentary on Johnny Manzell. And you know what? I think it would have been more interesting. than Michael Jordan.

And it'd certainly be more interesting than Saban, right? I haven't watched the Patriots documentary. They just don't interest me all that much. The Sabin one because of the LSU stuff and all that I'm interested in. But I just, I can't fathom it would be that good. I mean, it's fine. Like, I don't think it's going to be bad. I don't think it's going to be unwatchable.

But I think you'll probably come out of it feeling like, eh, okay. You know, that's fine. But that's the problem with documentaries. you don't get enough. Like I'm trying to think of documentaries I've watched where after the fact I've been like, oh, that was thorough. You know, like the Eagles documentary,

the history of the Eagles, the band, the Eagles. Now, they're all involved in it, so I'm sure there's some stuff left out of it. But that thing's like three and a half, four hours, two parts, it's thorough. You know, that's good. But then you get so excited

for certain documentaries, then watch them. Like, I watch the, and there are some that leave you wanting more, and maybe that's the point, but I feel like you probably could have gone deeper. Like there's one that's on HBO Max right now about when Dennis Miller was on Monday Night Football. And maybe it's because I just enjoy that subject a lot. But the documentary was only like 45 minutes. And I'm like, I feel like you could have gone deeper into this shit, you know?

Like, give me a little bit more. I think we undersell or we under deliver on documentaries sometimes, you know. No, sometimes shit's too long. Like there was one that I watched, and I don't know if it was during the Rona or before the Rona, but it was the one about the didlin in the church in Baltimore. And this was like 12 fucking parts. And I'm like, there's only so many times you can come back to, well, they were, you know, they were fucking the kids, you know.

And you're like, okay, well, I've had enough of this story. Like, you've kind of bored me. So there is a fine line, you know. But, like, Mansell's a guy that I feel like you could have had a bunch about, you know, or old school athletes. Like, I want to watch a Ken Stabler documentary. I want a 10-part. Ken Stabler documentary.

Is there a Kins Stabler documentary? And I want to watch that fucking thing. Too bad. Well, there's a football life, but a football life's 40 minutes. I want a full-on kin-stabler documentary. I want a Ken Stabler documentary. I want a, you know, I want a fucking, I mean, you can also watch ones about, you know,

Dante Antonio Pasterini. And he's like, guys, it went out and fucked and drank and partied. And like North Dallas 40ed that shit. That's a good documentary. You know, like, I don't know. And I'll watch the Sabin documentary. And again, Saban legend. I get all that.

I'm not, you know, dismissing that. It's just if you said, Josh, you could have one deep, thorough documentary that would be a six-part docu-series about a person. And you can choose Johnny Mansell or Nick Saban. Who would it be? And the easy answer is Johnny Mansell. Like just a guy that just went, I did not give a buck and let his nuts hang. And that's interesting.

Like, what's the story about Sabin? Well, you know, Nick Saban, you know, he hated winning. He hated pretty much everything. And, you know, working for Coach Saban. Here's video of Coach Saban yelling at people. Like, okay. Well, here's Johnny Manzell getting a call from the casino saying he owes $100,000 or he's going to jail.

Like to me, that's far more interesting. interesting than anything you're going to get out of this Sabin documentary, but we'll see.