A few weeks before National Signing Day in 2016, linebacker Terrell Lewis, an Alabama target, was slated to take an official visit to Ole Miss. In fact, Lewis was literally at the airport preparing to board his flight.
That’s when Nick Saban “popped up” on him.
“[He did that] just to make sure he [left] an impression on me before I go visit another school that he could tell was obviously competing hard [for me],” Lewis said on Tiki & Tierney. “That left an impression on me as far as just him going way out of his way to pop up and just see me for an hour-and-a-half and come all the way to the Maryland/D.C. area. Just to see me before I go visit another school, that was definitely different.”
Lewis, who starred at St. John’s College High School in Washington D.C., ultimately committed to Alabama. He won a national championship in 2017 and was second-team All-SEC in 2019.
“Early on, I used to look at Coach Saban and kind of feel like I’m talking to a robot,” said Lewis, a projected second-round pick in the upcoming NFL Draft. “I was talking to a guy that kind of reads everything straight off the paper. As we continued to build our relationship, I started to see the personable side of him. While seeing him interact with the players, he kind of got more comfortable talking to me.”
Lewis was also asked about teammate Tua Tagovailoa – and had nothing but positives to say about the former Tide quarterback.
“He’s definitely a great person – obviously a locker-room guy,” Lewis said. “He brings a lot of personality, and he’s a guy that you know has a relationship with every one of his guys in the locker room. Being around Tua, you can’t help but root for a guy like him because he always stays positive throughout everything. He’s always been a humble guy, but at the same time, you know how competitive he is. You know how confident he is. He knows how to handle every situation accordingly. He’s always been a good guy, a good friend of mine. I always keep in contact with him. Even though we’re not seeing each other every day like we used to, we always stay in contact with guys like him.”