Nick Saban's Real-Time Reaction To 9/11 During LSU Practice Will Have You Ready To Run Through A Brick Wall

If you thought some pesky attack on the United States of America was going to stop Nick Saban from getting his team prepared to crack some skulls, think again. It most certainly did not. 

Saban – the ex-LSU and Alabama coach who is set to make his College GameDay debut tomorrow – was apparently in the middle of practice back in 2001 when the planes hit the Twin Towers. George Bush was reading books in Florida, and Nick Saban was teaching a Cover-2 defense in Baton Rouge. 

What a time. 

Anyway, according to a new tell-all book about Saban – "The Price: What It Takes to Win in College Football’s Era of Chaos," written by Armen Keteyian and John Talty – the former LSU coach was told of the events unfolding during practice. 

After the first plane hit, his secretary whispered in his ear – what a Bush callback! – what was going on. Saban didn't break stride. After the second plane hit … well, you can take a guess!

"Boys, there are some screwed-up people in the world," he said, according to the book, via the New York Post. 

"Now, what are we going to do when we’re in Cover Two against these routes?"

Nick Saban: football guy

My God. It's perfect. It's perfect Nick Saban. God, I love this dude. You don't win a billion national titles by stopping practice because America is under attack. Nope. 

You grind even harder. You figure out how to identify the mike linebacker, or how to read a Cover-2, or how to fill the A-gap. That's the kind of coach that builds dynasty after dynasty after dynasty. A grinder. Head down, eyes forward, and laser-focused on the task at hand. 

In LSU's case this particular week, it was Auburn. You think Saban had time to waste on 9/11 when a showdown with the Tigers was on deck? Don't think so. Reminds me of this famous Saban presser from years ago:

Hilarious. For what it's worth, the Auburn game was eventually canceled. Nick must have been FURIOUS with that decision. I can't even imagine. 

From the NY Post:

LSU practiced as scheduled, and Saban never addressed the terror attack with the team, as some of the Tigers players reportedly had "no idea what was happening across the country."

Saban later apologized for having his "head in the sand" to a newspaper as the attacks were unfolding.

Kirby Smart, now the head coach of Georgia, was a defensive backs coach under Saban at LSU in 2004.

In 2007, he was hired to the same position with the added assistant head coach title under Saban at Alabama.

As the new staff assembled in Tuscaloosa, Smart reportedly used the Sept. 11 reaction as an example to the group of the focus they were in for.

"This guy is all football all the time," Smart told them, according to the book. "When he’s in the office, he’s not thinking about anything else."

Amen, brother. And now look at you! Smart and the Bulldogs are the modern day Alabama. Thanks, Nick! 

Give 'em hell in Dublin this weekend.