Former Alabama football coach Nick Saban has struggled with the negativity of the college football fan base.

After a segment on ESPN’s “College GameDay” on Friday about the pressure Ohio State Buckeyes coach Ryan Day faced following his team’s impressive 13-10 loss to Michigan on Nov. 30, Saban was asked by host Rece Davis to to comment on Day.

Saban came to Day’s defense and held no punches.

“I think every coach has to define how they want to do it and I have a lot of respect for Ryan Day and how he tried to do it. You know, I always wanted every player in the organization to reach their full potential. So it wasn’t so much about the outcome, but more about what you had to do to make everyone better. But a big part of it was protecting players from external factors: criticism, the Internet.”

Saban was warming up and painted an unflattering picture of angry fans.

“I kept telling the players, ‘Why do you care what some guy puts on the internet who’s a fat guy in his underwear who lives in his mom’s basement?!’ Why do you care? Why does this mean anything? Why does this affect you in any way? We should only focus on what we can control and what we can do.’”

The further he continued, the more animated Saban became.

“I would say the same thing to the fans. If Ohio State (fans) want to beat Michigan, they have to be positive about their coach and players because no one wants to beat them more than the players and coaches. That’s No. 1. No. 2, they have a chance to win the national championship! Everyone should support them with all their might so that they have the best opportunity to do it and turn their backs on all these negative bulls-!”

This prompted a response from fellow GameDay panelist Kirk Herbstreit, a former Ohio State University quarterback, who agreed with Saban.

“What I love about this (chatter) is that you were fine for the first 30 seconds, and then something lit the fuse and you put yourself in that environment because you lived there,” Herbstreit told Saban .

Herbstreit said of negative fans, “It’s like, ‘We’re doing a pretty good job here…How about we get behind each other and help each other on the field?'”

A few minutes later, Saban made it clear that he wasn’t just talking to Ohio State fans. He also recalled the high expectations of Alabama fans:

“I sat in that seat for 17 years because they thought we should win every game we played at Alabama. And we lost some we shouldn’t have. It happens sometimes. It’s hard to deal with success and it’s hard to deal with failure, but I think if everyone in the organization is positive about what you’re trying to do – I’m talking about coaches, players, fans, everyone who has something have to do with the organization.

“I have always said that fans are part of the team and should not have any greater expectations of the team than of themselves. I think that people who create a negative atmosphere, regardless of the circumstances, only hinder their chances of success.”

Here’s a video clip of Saban’s rant.

Ohio State hosts Tennessee in the first round of the College Football Playoff on Saturday at 7 p.m. CT (ABC/ESPN).

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