Nick Saban doesn’t coach Alabama football anymore, but some of his messages endure. Even for the coaches who didn’t work under him.

JaMarcus Shephard, the Crimson Tide co-offensive coordinator/receivers coach, invoked Wednesday one of Saban’s most famous phrases: rat poison.

Shephard, speaking to reporters, was asked about the upcoming game against Oklahoma and all the things surrounding the game (the Sooners trying to get bowl eligible, senior day, etc.). Before long, Shephard was quoting Saban. Shephard didn’t want his guys focusing on any outside noise or talk about the game or Alabama.

“The guy who used to be in this spot all the time (Saban), used to say that’s rat poison,” Shephard said. “That’s the stuff you guys are trying to put into the heads of our kids and putting it online because you know they’re going to read it. You’ve got them worried about the wrong things. Even in a time right now we are pushing forward to try and complete this season in an excellent fashion, I don’t care about those things. I care about you doing your job exactly how it’s supposed to be done the way we are asking you to do it.”

Shephard doesn’t want his players thinking about the implications in the game for Oklahoma. Instead …

“Did you get the proper depth on your block?” Shephard asked. “Did you get the proper depth on your route? Did you pull for the right person? Did you read everything the right way?”

No. 7 Alabama (8-2, 4-2 SEC) needs to take care of business first against Oklahoma (5-5, 1-5) on Saturday (6:30 p.m., ESPN) in Norman, Oklahoma. The Crimson Tide needs to keep winning to make the College Football Playoff.

After the Oklahoma game, Alabama will close the regular season with the Iron Bowl and possibly the SEC Championship Game. Alabama seems to be hitting its stride at the right time, and Shephard doesn’t want that to change by players listening to rat poison about how good they are.

How are the players handling the rat poison?

“Great,” Shephard said. “I think it’s a testament to the culture Coach DeBoer has built here. They’ve handled it extremely gracefully.”

Nick Kelly is an Alabama beat writer for AL.com and the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X and Instagram.