Nick Saban doesn’t feed his former team rat poison.

The former Alabama head coach recently selected Georgia and Texas for the SEC title game and explained his decision on The Pat McAfee Show on Friday.

“It’s kind of reverse rat poison. I’ve always hated it, and I’ll hate it on this show, I might as well say it, on this show or any show or (College) GameDay,” Saban said (3:53). “Having to make predictions and hypothetical decisions about who’s going to win a game, who’s going to win a championship, who’s going to win what conference. I’ve always hated that. So I picked Georgia and Texas because it’s reverse rat poison for Alabama. It’s a motivating factor for them not to be picked because I hated being picked first or second because you don’t know how that’s going to affect the team psychologically.”

Saban, who retired after the end of the 2023 season, constantly preached not to be seduced by the “rat poison” that was hyped around his Alabama teams in the preseason. The legendary coach believed that if his team listened too much to what people were saying about his team, it could go to their heads and prevent them from performing at their best.

This attitude of ignoring the outside noise benefited Saban and the Crimson Tide, as Alabama won six national championships during his tenure.

Now that he’s off the bench, Saban hopes his players remember his message to avoid the “rat poison” and focus on winning games.

Alabama begins its first season without Saban on the bench since 2006 when it faces Western Kentucky on Aug. 31.