College Football

Dealing with blood vessel burst, Nick Saban gives Bama coaches credit for stepping up

Published Nov. 8, 2023 6:49 p.m. ET

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There was a moment in Alabama's 42-28 win where Nick Saban would've typically gotten on his players for making a mistake, but he couldn't due to a recent health ailment.

The Alabama coach's right eye was notably bloodshot last week in the days leading up to the game and on Saturday. It turned out that Saban actually popped a blood vessel in his eye, and his doctor believes that it was related to his intense coaching style. 

"I don't know if you saw my eye, but my eye's all red," Saban told reporters on the SEC coaches teleconference on Wednesday. "So I went to the doctor and he asked, ‘Are you coughing? Are you sick?' and all that. He said, ‘Well, it must be from yelling.'"

So, when Alabama allowed LSU to score a game-tying touchdown on a five-play, 75-yard drive in the final minute of the half, Saban couldn't express his disappointment in his usual style. Luckily for him, defensive coordinator Kevin Steele stepped up to the plate for him. Following Saturday's game, Alabama cornerback Terrion Arnold jokingly told reporters, "if I told you what Coach Steele said in there, they probably wouldn't want me doing media."

Whatever message Steele relayed to the team worked. After Alabama allowed a touchdown on the opening drive of the second half, it scored 21 unanswered points to beat LSU. Saban seemed appreciative of Steele helping out. 

"I guess I do like the relief of other people sort of getting on players when they need it," Saban said. "Not in a negative way but in a way that is inspiring to them and gets them to play better."

However, the moment from Steele caught Saban a bit off-guard. 

"He's pretty soft-spoken most of the time, but I think when he does get on somebody or say something, everybody listens," Saban said.

Saturday's win marked the seventh straight victory for Alabama, which was arguably its most impressive yet as it took down one of the two teams that it lost to last season. The Crimson Tide's ranking in the College Football Playoff poll didn't change after the win, staying at No. 8, but their chances of winning a national title seem more than alive as they'll likely be double-digit favorites to win each of their next three games and only need one more conference win to return to the SEC Championship Game.

While the college football world is accustomed to Alabama being in the title hunt this late in the season in almost all of the 17 years Saban has been its head coach, this season seems to be a bit of a surprise. Alabama struggled out of the gate, losing at home to Texas in Week 2 and struggled offensively throughout the first half of the year.

Saban was humble when talking about his team's in-season turnaround, giving credit to others in the program for righting the ship.

How should Alabama, Michigan and Oregon feel after the first week in November?

"I think the credit goes to the coaching staff and the players," Saban said. "This group of guys have shown tremendous resiliency to keep working to improve. I think they trust the coaches.

"They respect what we're trying to do to help them be better players and it's resulted in a team that has consistently improved throughout the year and we just gotta try to keep trying to do that," Saban added. "We got a lot of guys nicked up today, but hopefully it'll be an opportunity for somebody else to step up."

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