Nick Saban made his weekly appearance on the Pat McAfee Show on Thursday, and in addition to talking football, he also discussed his new role as a part owner of the NHL’s Nashville Predators.

Saban has multiple business interests in Nashville through his partnership in Dream Motor Group, which operates Mercedes Benz and Ferrari dealerships in the city. He and business parter Joe Agresti bought into the Predators, who are majority owned by truck stop magnate (and former governor of Tennessee) Bill Haslam.

“It was an opportunity for me, really, with Mr. Haslam, Bill Haslam, who we talked about some sports franchise opportunities in the future, and this was the first one that came up,” Saban said. “I love hockey. I think hockey is a great investment. They have a salary cap and it’s a growing sport. I think there’s a lot of interest in the sport. And Nashville is a great city. We have businesses there.

“I’m kind of a fan and look forward to being a part of the team, which I think they have the structure there to rebuild this team. I’m excited about being a part of it. I don’t know enough about hockey to really coach anybody how to play it, but I know enough about successful organizations that hopefully can contribute something to the organization in a positive way.”

McAfee also kidded Saban about buying into the Predators, who lost to McAfee’s hometown Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2017 Stanley Cup Finals. Saban is originally from West Virginia, and grew up around numerous fans of the Pittsburgh team.

“I went to a Predators game in the playoffs several years ago and the Penguins were actually playing the Predators in the playoffs,” Saban said. “And I had a Predators jersey on, trying to promote our Nashville businesses. And I got about a thousand negative emails from my people back in West Virginia who were Penguins fans. So I got my ass kicked on that one.”

Saban’s old team opens the College Football Playoff on Friday night at Oklahoma, which beat the Crimson Tide 23-21 during the regular season. Alabama can win the rematch if it avoids the critical errors that plagued it back on Nov. 15, he said.

“The pressure package that (Oklahoma has) …I think that was a big difference in the first game,” Saban said. “When you watched the game, when (Alabama) got their pressures blocked up, they made a lot of explosive plays. I’m talking about Alabama. But when they didn’t, it was devastating in terms of sack, fumbles, pick sixes, sacks that led to stop and drives. So it was like feast or famine in the game.

“So how they can execute against the pressures, to me is the most important thing. Because if you can get to the back end of Oklahoma’s defense, I think you’ve got a chance to make plays, which was evident in the first game. I mean, Alabama had over 400 yards versus Oklahoma’s 200. But three turnovers, all in negative field position that led to 17 points, helped Oklahoma tremendously in the game and you can’t have those kind of plays.

“If you have those kind of plays, Oklahoma will be successful. That’s how they win. They’ve not scored a lot of points, (but) their defense is outstanding and they thrive on making plays in the game that are going to impact the game. And they did it to Alabama a month ago.”

Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson was a Heisman frontrunner in October, but his play declined noticeably late in the regular season. He threw for 326 yards last time out vs. Oklahoma, but wasn’t as sharp in games against Auburn and in the SEC championship game vs. Georgia.

“I really do think that some of the issues that have been created on Alabama’s offense come from the fact that there’s more pressure, more sacks,” Saban said. “They’ve been able to affect the quarterback, which led to the four interceptions that you’re talking about.

“(Simpson is) very capable. But I’ve always said this quarterback’s a hard position to play — maybe the hardest position in sports — if the people around you don’t play well. So their ability to run the ball, their ability to protect, pick up pressures, the offensive line play a little more consistently, that’ll help the quarterback. And if they can do that, I think Ty’s very capable of getting back to where he was somewhere in the middle of the season when he was playing outstanding.”

Kickoff for Alabama-Oklahoma is set for 7 p.m. Central Friday in Norman, Okla. The game will air live on ABC and ESPN.