Who would have thought a Valentine’s Day wish would turn into a mockery moment for Michigan? Nick Saban’s grandson, James, wrote a Valentine’s card for his classmate, but it ended up as a trolling card aimed at his mother, Kristen Saban, referencing the Wolverines’ sign-stealing controversy.
Kristen Saban posted an IG story of her son’s Valentine’s card: “I want to make Charlie a Michigan State card for Valentine’s Day because he likes the Michigan State Spartans but not the Wolverines. If the Wolverines don’t cheat, they lose. My mom likes Alabama and Auburn, but my dad likes Michigan State, like me, so he can get a card too.”
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Now, everyone knows how tough it is for Michigan to forget the entire sign-stealing controversy. Both Jim Harbaugh and Connor Stalions had to pay the price for it by leaving the program for running an illegal scouting operation.
But you know it’s just a harmless pun when you see Kristen Saban’s next story. She clarified how James loves poking fun at her, saying, “Guys, I don’t actually like Auburn. My child just likes to publicly troll me. Take the DMs down a notch, Janet!”
Credits: Instagram Kristen
James loves giving Kristen Saban a hard time. Back in 2022, she took him to Bryant-Denny Stadium for the spring game. For any coach’s daughter, it’s a dream to see her son run out of the stadium tunnel. But that experience turned scary when James ran through the tunnel with so much force that it startled her.
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Kristen even joked about it on her IG story, saying, “I’ve always joked about how one day I will let my children run through the tunnel to ‘go see papaw on his field’…” Well, it finally happened, and I had a heart attack. 🥴😂 Kid can run.”
The saga of chaos doesn’t just end there.
Last Christmas, both were playing football, but when James threw a shot at Kristen Saban, she immediately fumbled it. That clip perfectly showed their relationship and how much James loves teasing his mother. He even refused to take pictures with her, as Kristen once posted a photo of him wandering away from the camera, leaving her pleading, “Pls take one pic with me.”
So, it’s pretty clear why Kristen Saban said James loves troubling her. However, even with all of James’ history of trolling his mother, he might have just picked the wrong team to take a shot at.
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Nick Saban’s history against Michigan
Across his assistant and head coaching stops, Nick Saban has coached 15 total games against Michigan and held a 7-8 record.
Their rivalry began at Ohio State during the 1980–81 season and then continued at Michigan State, where Nick Saban served as head coach and lost three years in a row against Michigan, after pulling off a big win in 1995. Later, Saban moved to Alabama, where he defeated Michigan in the 2012 Cowboys Kickoff Classic and again in the 2020 Citrus Bowl.
His record against Jim Harbaugh is 1–1, but he also faced him while at Michigan State, going 1–2 against Harbaugh, who was the starting QB for the Wolverines. That explains why taking a shot at Michigan is risky, given Saban’s losing record against them.
