"His name is Coach Saban. Not Nick. Not Saban."

C'mon, we all know it's Saint Nick.

 

Equally cringeworthy is the TV dude referring to Saban's wife as "Miss Terry." If the players call her that, fine. If Nick ... sorry COACH SABAN calls her that whatever. But even as a Southerner, that Miss Terry thing is weird to read in print.

 

but you have no problem referring to macho man's wife as miss elizabeth smdh

 

Has anyone seen video of the offending sequence? I'm wondering if this reporter maybe said coach butstumbled over the word so it just came out Saban? Most people don't just say the last name.

 

I called a lot of coaches "Coach" but it was always for one of two reasons: I either didn't know or remember their name (lots of that on sidelines at HS games when I was trying to find the opposing head coach and didn't know what he looked like) or because I was trying to set them at ease in the conversation because I know a lot of coaches love being called Coach. Was never out of some obligation or sense of respect. I've called tons of people I respect by their first names over the years and few by their last names, especially when they have a common first name.

 

I've seen it said a few times here that using a last name isn't common. Is it maybe a regional thing? I hear it often enough, honestly. My son's basketball coach this season only went by his last name. I felt weird calling him his first. Crap, my wife's old partner always called my wife by just her last name. It does seem informal in this situation, but is it really that unheard of?

 

Or he does fine remembering faces but struggles to match them with names.

 

There's a whole vibe to that original facebook post.

 

Disagrees.

 

Babe Ruth supposedly called everybody 'Kid' because he couldn't be bothered to learn anybody's name. Pretty cool if you can get away with it.

 

In Boston Terry Francona had a hair across his ass about being called 'Coach' by reporters in press conferences. He was a 'manger.'

 

This, plus it's just a bit of common manners if you're not a regular on the beat.
The Alabama beat writers who are there every week should be familiar enough to Saban that they should be on a first-name basis. If I'm from a small paper and only cover one or two games a year, or pop onto a random Zoom call to ask a question about a local player, it feels weird calling someone you don't know by their first name. "Coach" is just a simple and polite way to get their attention without coming across as a jerk.