Nick Saban's Bizarre Reaction to 9/11 Attacks Revealed

Nick Saban's game prep is so intense, even a national tragedy couldn't derail it.

The legendary football coach, who announced his retirement in January after 17 seasons and seven national championships with Alabama, had a controversial moment at the previous stop in his career.

An upcoming book highlights the moment that Saban, then in his first season as coach at LSU, learned about the terrorist attacks on 9/11. The book, "The Price: What It Takes to Win in College Football's Era of Chaos," by Armen Keteyian and John Talty, shared that Saban was first informed of the attack by a secretary and apparently failed to grasp the significance at the time.

A report from The Daily Mail revealed an early excerpt from the book stating that Saban and his staff continued on with their work after learning that a plane had struck the World Trade Center. When a second plane hit, Saban still remained focused on football.

"Boys, there are some screwed-up people in the world," Saban told his staff, according to the report. "Now, what are we going to do when we're in Cover Two against these routes?"

Saban later apologized and said it was the right call to cancel that week's game against Auburn, the report noted.

Related: Nick Saban Explains Why He Retired From Coaching