MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Clint Trickett temporarily turned the talk from rollouts to romance on Tuesday night, recounting how Nick Saban’s daughter Kristen “was my first kiss, back in the day.”
Turns out it was way, way back in the day.
“For clarification, we were like 6 years old!” Trickett said. “Just so everyone knows that.”
For more background: Trickett’s father Rick served as Saban’s offensive line coach at LSU in 2000, around the time the now-infamous kiss occurred.
Barely a beat after mentioning the childhood peck, West Virginia’s quarterback was laughing along with reporters and rethinking the admission—”I don’t know if I should have said that.”—in light of having to face Saban’s defense during Saturday’s opener in Atlanta.
But Trickett diplomatically promoted his deep respect for Saban, who previously hired the quarterback’s older brother Travis as a graduate assistant at Alabama.
“Coach Nick is one of the greatest there is,” he said. “And we’ve known him for years, family friends and just one of the best coaches out there.”