Nick Saban Explains His Crimson-Shot Eye, And You Shouldn't Be Surprised At The Cause

Someone told Alabama coach Nick Saban he had a blood shot eye on Wednesday. And he does not drink.

"It doesn't hurt, but it does look bad," Saban said on his weekly radio show Thursday night. "It looks like I've been in a gang fight, and my gang didn't show."

So Saban visited one of the team doctors.

Alabama's Nick Saban Visited The Doctor This Week

"And he looks at me, and says, 'You've been coughing?' I said, 'No," Saban said. "And he said, 'You know you can get this from yelling.' I busted a blood vessel in my eye. And he said, 'You got it from yellin' too much. There's nothing wrong with you.'"

So, if Saban does decide to retire this season, he will not be exiting with a whimper.

The root of Saban's yells is the fact that his players are jawing with opponents more than usual on the field.

"Probably because the players are talking too much," he said. "That's the culture of players now. They love doing that."

He has stressed to his No. 8-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide (7-1, 5-0 Southeastern Conference) to stop that heading into Saturday's critical home game for the SEC West lead. The Tide plays No. 14 LSU (6-2, 4-1 SEC) at Bryant-Denny Stadium (7:45 p.m., CBS).

Saban says his players constantly jawing with opponents takes away their focus.

"That's what I talked to the players about today (Thursday)," he said. "Because that's been an issue for us to maintain our intensity, play smart, and do the things that don't help the other team by the choices and decisions that you make."

And Saban accidentally discovered a new way to get his players' attention.

"I said, 'All right, I want everybody to put their hand over their ear. Because I don't want this to go in one ear and out the other,'" he said. "I was just kind of kidding, and everybody did it. They were looking at me like, 'What's he going to say?' And I mean they listened like crazy. So, you want to get your kids' attention, tell them that."

Crimson Tide Started Season Slow

It shouldn't be a surprise that Saban has been yelling at his team a lot this season. The Crimson Tide started off slowly with a 34-24 loss at home to Texas on Sept. 9 and struggled before winning against lowly South Florida a week later. And Alabama is 74th in the nation in fewest penalties a game with 6.1. Typically, Alabama under Saban has been among the least penalized teams in the nation.

"The big thing for us in this game is for our players to make a choice and decide how they want to play," he said. "Don't let the other team dictate how we play the game. Don't let any external circumstances take away from your focus."