Alabama's Nick Saban Releases PSA Video Regarding COVID-19 Guidelines

Alabama head football coach Nick Saban offered some social distancing advice Tuesday for Crimson Tide fans to follow during the coronavirus pandemic. 

"Please wash your hands often," he said in a video released on the football team's Twitter account. "Stay at home if at all possible. And when you have to be out in public, make sure you keep six feet between you and the nearest person."

He added: "Together we look forward to all that's to come, like the opportunity to play college football this fall, but the best and safest way to ensure that happens is to listen to the experts, follow their guidelines and take care of each other."

Last week, LSU head football coach Ed Orgeron offered similar advice to Louisiana residents:

"Look, we all know we're from Louisiana, we're tough," he said. "We're resilient. I encourage you to follow the game plan, just like I ask the Tigers, man."

"This is not the time to be selfish," he added. "I urge young people to stay home. Do the things that you need to do. You don't need to be out on the streets doing all kinds of stuff. This is not the time to do that stuff."

The coronavirus pandemic has had a major impact on college and professional sports already, from most major leagues in the United States and Europe going on hiatus to the NCAA canceling winter and spring sports. Even the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo have been postponed until 2021.

But there is also looming uncertainty about how the pandemic could affect sports like football, especially if the outbreak in the United States isn't contained by a certain date. Practices and training camps need to occur before a season begins, and both will be threatened if the pandemic isn't contained by the summer months.

That leaves the possibility of a delayed season, or even a season with games canceled, as a possibility.

"I'm a half-full perspective person, so I have optimism," SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said last week regarding the topic of whether the 2020 season would start on time and be played in full, per Dan Wolken of USA Today. "We're going to have a period of time to see what happens with the growth of these cases and we'll make decisions down the road."

One way fans can potentially help prevent a shortened or even canceled season is to heed the advice of Saban and Orgeron.