Michigan coach Biff Poggi names the greatest college football coach ever

Michigan Wolverines interim head coach Biff Poggi stepped into the national spotlight on Saturday, filling in as Michigan’s interim head coach while Sherrone Moore serves a one-game suspension.

During an ESPN College GameDay interview, the longtime high school and college coach turned the conversation playful and pointed. Asked about the sport’s standard bearer, Poggi nodded to his days working with the Alabama Crimson Tide and made it clear where he stands on the sport’s coaching hierarchy.

Poggi told a story about his friendship with Nick Saban, couching it in humor that still sounded like admiration.

“I know everyone genuflects to the greatest college football coach ever, but not me,” Poggi said. “And I will tell you that we’ve been friends a long time. And I don’t know, he called me five or six years ago and he goes, ‘Hey, guess what? I’ve been chosen for a Ferrari dealership.’ I said, ‘Oh man, congratulations. Let me be the first guy to buy a car from you.’”

Biff Poggi’s Ferrari Story With Nick Saban

The anecdote centered on Saban’s role with a Nashville Ferrari dealership and Poggi’s intent to buy a Ferrari 812 Superfast. The purchase never happened, which set up the punchline. “I will have a beard down to my knees before I see that 812,” Poggi said, delivering the setup that had the GameDay panel laughing.

“Oh, here was the problem,” Saban said. “When we got right down to the transaction — you had alligator arms. You could not reach in your pocket.” Poggi fired back, telling Saban to ask his Rolls-Royce dealer about those “alligator arms.”