This week has been a somber one for the University of Alabama as a pair of former football players lost their lives.

First, on Wednesday, former Crimson Tide offensive tackle and assistant coach Jim Fuller, formerly the head football coach and later athletic director at Jacksonville State, passed away at the age of 76 following a bout with the coronavirus. Then, early Thursday, Keith McCants, an All-America defender with the Tide in 1989 who later had a stint in the NFL, was found dead in his Florida home at 53 after what appeared to be a drug overdose.

On Thursday, on his first radio show of the season, Nick Saban commented on the death of the Alabama alumni.

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to their families,” Saban said, according to Charlie Potter. “It’s always difficult for everybody when something like this happens. They represented the university well.”