It's a new era for the SEC and commissioner Greg Sankey made that plain in his opening comments to kick off SEC Media Days in Dallas Monday. Sure, he referenced the official additions of Texas and Oklahoma. And he mentioned the expansion of the College Football Playoff to 12 teams. But the real sign of change apparently occurred when Nick Saban walked off an elevator for his first day on the job as an ESPN commentator analyzing the team he coached and the teams he coached against for the past 17 years.

Saban "was denied access because he didn't have his credential this morning and had to go back to his room," Sankey said.

This was, evidently, no joke. Saban confirmed as much when he appeared on ESPN's "Get Up" with Mike Greenberg and was asked how this experience of talking about the SEC would be different than being a coach in the SEC.

"It's a little different," Saban said. "I've never worn a credential for my life and was always, for 17 years, able to get into SEC Media Day without a credential. I had to go back to the room today to get my credential to get in. So that's one of the biggest changes I see. It's not like it used to be."

The story gets better, according to AL.com. A grandmother and her grandson were actually responsible for Saban's turn-around.

Kiante Griffin, a former four-star recruit in football, was working as a security guard when Saban approached trying to enter. He recognized the former Alabama coach and was ready to let him through, despite no sign of a credential.

“He came down the elevator and he knew he didn’t have his credentials,” Griffin told AL.com. “He literally looked at me, he was like ‘Oh I’m going to go up and get it.’ "

"I was like, 'I think everybody should know who you are. There's a credential desk right there. You can probably just get another one,' " Griffin added. "But he ended up just going back up to his room."

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His grandmother was more of a stickler, though.

“They told us everybody had to have their credentials,” she said. “Period.”

It was quite the eventful first day for Saban, who also picked Georgia and Texas to face one another in the SEC championship game this year, bypassing Alabama.

"I really like Texas. I think Georgia has got a really good team," Saban said. "I believe in our Alabama team, too. I believe in Jalen Milroe. I just think the question marks in the secondary, until those get resolved, it's hard to, sort of, jump on that bandwagon."

Luckily for Saban, his credentials at Alabama can't be questioned – even if he's skeptical about the first post-Saban Crimson Tide team.

But that might not be what everyone remembers about this SEC Media Days.

As Tuesday's news conferences got underway, Georgia's Kirby Smart was still having some fun at Saban's expense.

"Good morning," Smart addressed the media. "I appreciate you guys coming out. I do want it to be duly noted that I got in here without a credential today."

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: How (and why) Nick Saban was denied entry to 2024 SEC Media Days