Pat McAfee could feel Nick Saban getting uncomfortable. When ESPN’s College Gameday rolled into Tuscaloosa for Alabama-Texas, McAfee sat next to Saban on set.

As McAfee praised the Alabama football’s head coach as the greatest ever, McAfee realized Saban wasn’t a fan. The eponymous host recalled the story on his show Thursday afternoon before referencing a favorite topic of Saban’s: motivation.

Saban, on camera with a feed from his office on UA’s campus, stated his long-known beliefs that one’s drive to succeed should come internally. Saban has argued that improvement is constant and not just a measure of that week’s challenge. It allowed Saban to joke with McAfee about the claims that Alabama’s dynasty was due to be silenced by Ole Miss.

But more revealing was how Saban was able to describe how he’s adapted as a motivator to accommodate modern players.

“Ideally, you’d like for everything to be intrinsic,” Saban said during his weekly appearance on McAfee’s show. “All of us, our motivation comes within us because of what we want to accomplish and what we want to do. In the reality of the world, especially with young people today, because everybody grows up getting a lot of positive self-gratification or negative self-gratification from what somebody else thinks, whether it’s Twitter, some internet device, whatever it is, ESPN, what people say about you.

“To ignore the fact that people are affected by external factors I think is not smart in this day and age. I think you do have to use those things sometimes as a) rat poison, when it’s good but b) sometimes as a motivating factor when you’re getting dogged a little bit out there for something you’re not doing correctly.”

The dichotomy has been a common theme throughout Alabama’s (3-1, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) season. While the Tide held its starting quarterback battle, Saban kept repeating that whoever won would prove to be “the guy,” and use their play as security to not worry about how the other competitors performed. The thrower who eventually earned the job, Jalen Milroe, developed a tagline for the season that’s been adopted by teammates: LANK, or Let a Naysayer Know.

Saban was asked about the stereotypical bulletin board material that coaches are known for as it related to a pair of notable Week 4 matchups. Ohio State head coach Ryan Day called out Lou Holtz, and Washington State’s Jack Dickert had a similar exchange with Lee Corso. Dan Lanning triggered a media examination after ESPN cameras picked up part of his pregame speech.

On the media access debate, Saban labeled some moments between coach and players as “sacred.” Saban said he understood Lanning’s messaging, though questioned the timing. Usually, Saban will use Monday as his time to send a message to the fanbase or his team through the media, he said.

“I’m always reading books and gathering information on how you affect human behavior. Cause that’s what we’re talking about,” Saban said on The Pat McAfee Show. “You call it motivation but you’re really trying to affect human behavior in a positive way so they can get the most out of talent and ability.”

That mindset has been part of Saban’s six national titles with the Crimson Tide and will continue with the 2023 squad on Saturday night at Mississippi State (8 p.m. CT, ESPN).

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Nick Alvarez is a reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @nick_a_alvarez or email him at [email protected].