Nick Saban Questions If Alabama Had 'Anxiety' in Upset Loss to FSU in CFB Opener

Former Alabama head coach Nick Saban offered a possible diagnosis for the Crimson Tide's struggles after a Week 1 loss to Florida State.

Appearing on the Pat McAfee Show on Friday, Saban questioned whether Alabama had "anxiety" heading into the game.

"I do think there was something in that game that is tough to understand in my opinion, in that Alabama looked great going down the field on the first drive," Saban said (h/t Bama247's Mike Rodak). "Florida State gets the ball and goes right down the field and scores, and then the whole psychological disposition of Alabama's team changed, for what I reason, I don't know. Was it anxiety? Was it expectation?"

Expectations have always been high at Alabama, and Saban only made them higher after winning six national championships with the Crimson Tide. Saban suggested that current head coach Kalen DeBoer help his players find a way not to focus so much on the lofty expectations.

"One thing about coaching at Alabama is they expect you to win every game. There is a high expectation and the standard is really, really high for what you're supposed to accomplish and what you're supposed to do," Saban said. "You need to protect your players from that and give them a different way to compete in the game so they're not looking at the scoreboard, they're not worried about the outcome, they can stay focused on the things that they need to do to compete in the game for 60 minutes and play one play at a time so they're not worried about that.

"Because that's all they hear everywhere they go on social media – they're expected to win. You can't let that creep in—that anxiety about being outcome-oriented— affect performance."

There were sure to be some growing pains after Saban retired following the 2023 season, and that was evident as the once-dominant Crimson Tide went 9-4 a season ago.

DeBoer has plenty of time to turn things around and prove himself worthy of taking over for Saban, but his second campaign isn't off to a great start. He'll look the bounce back against UL Monroe on Saturday before another test next week against Wisconsin.