Alabama Coach Nick Saban Explains On-Brand Reason for Bloodshot Eye

Alabama football coach Nick Saban didn't realize how bad he looked until somebody told him.

The seven-time national champion's right eye has been noticeably bloodshot this week. But Saban said he hadn't noticed it until a TV reporter brought it to his attention on Wednesday. During an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show on Thursday, Saban was still baffled about what happened to his eye, though he said it didn't hurt. A few hours later, the topic came up again.

"It looks like I've been in a gang fight and my gang didn't show," Saban joked to host Eli Gold and guest Brad Nessler on Saban's weekly radio show.

But this time around, the coach had some answers.

Saban said a member of the University of Alabama's medical staff approached him after practice on Thursday and provided his hypothesis to the coach about the red eye. The 72-year-old, still known for the occasional (OK, maybe frequent) sideline outburst, said during his radio show that his fiery behavior this week is at the root of his problem.

"He looks at me and said, 'You been coughing?' I said, 'No,'" Saban said on Thursday night.

"He says, 'You got it from yelling. There's nothing wrong with you. You just got it from yelling. So you busted a blood vessel in your eye from yelling too much.' Probably because the players are talking to each other on the field. That's probably the reason," Saban said.

Saban's intensity at practice this week makes sense, considering the task ahead of the Crimson Tide. No. 8 Alabama (7-1) hosts No. 14 LSU (6-2) at 7:45 p.m. ET on Saturday in the latest installment in one of college football's biggest rivalries. ESPN's College GameDay pregame show will be on location, while the game will air nationally on CBS.

Alabama is seeking to avenge an overtime loss to LSU in Tiger Stadium last season. And a win this time around would keep control of the SEC West in the Crimson Tide's favor, while also providing a notable win for the team's College Football Playoff résumé. After losing to Texas in September, Alabama has won six games in a row, with two of those games coming against ranked SEC opponents.

Saban is 12-5 in his career against LSU since taking over as Alabama's coach in 2007.

During the radio show, Nessler asked Saban how he motivates his players going into a game like this. At first, the 10-time SEC Champion coach went into an anecdote about his eye. But then he provided a long answer.

"I do a lot of research, a lot of reading, on human behavior," Saban said. "We've got three different people that I get input from on a weekly basis—two psychiatrists and one sports psychologist—about human behavior, how to affect it, what is a good message to be sending at this point in time.

"That's kind of how, like, when I said in the beginning about playing every play in a game, stay focused in the game... But, I mean, every time it's something a little bit different because the circumstances around the team change a little bit all the time."