Memo to all Alabama defenders: Eddie Jackson will fight anyone who loses focus.

For the remainder of Jackson's career at Alabama, that message should probably be posted in the locker room, the training room and, most importantly, on the sidelines of the Crimson Tide. Alabama's senior safety will suffer no fools during football games.

It doesn't matter who it is, or the circumstance, and the numbers on the scoreboard are irrelevant.

Jackson might push, shove, provoke or punch anyone who seems distracted during a football game. He didn't return to school for his senior year for anything less than perfection, apparently, and that point became clear in Alabama's first game of the football season. When teammate Ronnie Harrison lost focus momentarily in the second quarter, Jackson was there to help.

In the end, the two had to be separated.

"When you have a teammate who cares about you and is trying to help you," Saban said on Monday, "the response should be 'Thank you,' not 'Screw you.'"

In two of Alabama's last three games, Jackson has offered to physically alter the disposition of his fellow teammates during games.

In the semifinal of the 2016 College Football Playoff, Jackson nearly came to blows with linebacker Dillon Lee. Former Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart had to separate the teammates despite Alabama leading 38-0 with only a few minutes left in the game.

Why the reason for the fight?

"We got in a disagreement about keeping our shutout and not letting them drive down and score late in the game," Lee said at the time.

Moments after the scuffle, Lee regained his focus and recorded the interception that sealed the Cotton Bowl shutout of Michigan State.

FAMILY TRADITION

The continuation of a rich tradition of excellence in the Alabama secondary, Jackson might be the only person on Alabama's sideline more intense than Saban. According to Jackson's father, the origin of his son's signature intensity isn't Alabama's coach, although Saban has certainly helped Jackson get the most out of his talent.

No, intensity runs in the Jackson family, and it started with Eddie Jackson, Sr., the grandfather of the football player.

"He was basically just like my son," said Jackson's father, Eddie Jr. "Zero tolerance, not too much to say, serious, all business, straightforward and to the point."

Jackson's father says his son only wants the best for his teammates.

"He basically just wants to keep everyone focused on what they need to do, and not be distracted with a lot of the stuff that's going on around him," Eddie Jr. said.

Last Saturday, Jackson was reprimanding Harrison for allowing USC's players to distract him. USC's players were taunting Harrison, according to Saban, and when Harrison tried to match wits that's when Jackson stepped in. That's not how Alabama operates, Jackson told him. Harrison lost his cool in the heat of competition, and defenders Reuben Foster and Deionte Thompson had to break up the fight before it escalated. At one point, Saban intervened and told Harrison to settle down.

Eddie Jackson III, who finished last season as a second-team All-American, takes after his grandfather, and, in so doing, has made the Jackson family extremely proud. Jackson returned to school for his senior year with the hopes of being the top-drafted safety in the country, but also to earn his degree.

According to Jackson, he is scheduled to graduate in December.

"Words can't describe how I feel right now," said Jackson Jr., Eddie's father. "I'm just very proud and very blessed. That means everything to me. To see him being the first in our family to graduate college, that just ... words can't describe it."

After an All-American season that included defensive MVP of the 2016 national championship game, Jackson could have entered April's NFL Draft and already be making money playing professional football. Instead, the South Florida native returned to school for his senior season after a conversation with Saban.

The pitch was simple: Saban told Jackson he still had things to learn as a safety, and if he returned for his senior season then he would become the first in his family to graduate college. To the surprise of many, Jackson stayed in school. Now, he's one of the nation's top-rated safeties, and he's less than a semester away from graduating with a degree in criminal justice.

After the season, he'll have his degree and four months to train for the 2017 draft.

"It's not even really about improving my stock," said Jackson, who could be Saban's fifth first-team All-American safety since 2008. "It's about improving myself as a player and a leader.

"Coach Saban sat down with me and broke it down to me like this. Some guys, they do all that they can do and they don't have any room for improvement. He said he saw a lot of things that I can improve on, so I really took that into consideration and really thought about it, and it was a tough decision, but me and my family, we thought it was the best."

EDDIE'S BAIL BONDS

After he finishes playing football, Jackson says he wants to start a small business as a bail bondsman. With his reputation for discipline, a venture into the financial services industry seems like a great idea.

Jackson's intense sideline demeanor started to take shape in high school, according to his former high school coach at Lauderdale Lakes (Fla.) Boyd Anderson. It was there, too, where Jackson first might have thought about bonding people out of jail for a living, says Wayne Blair.

Blair's brother, who sometimes helped during practices, is a bail bondsman in Broward County, Fla. Sometimes he had to leave abruptly during the middle of workouts.

"The guys used to wonder, hey, where is he going? Well, he had to go take care of business," Blair said. "That team that I had back at Boyd Anderson, I mean, not everybody was an angel. So, there were a couple of times when I had to call my brother in, and I'll just leave it right there. Not everybody was a law-abiding citizen."

In his hometown of Lauderdale Lakes, Jackson "has seen a lot of different things and experienced a lot of different things," says Blair.

"I came back to the community as a coach, but if were to come back in any other way it would be as a bail bondsman," Blair said. "I'm not on the actual side of the law, but I'm working with the law to help people gain their freedom."

Bail bondsman or not, Jackson will have plenty of options in the future. Two years ago, that future was uncertain. Jackson tore an anterior cruciate ligament in his knee before his sophomore season, and switched from cornerback to safety before his junior year.

He had six interceptions in his breakout season last year, and returned two for touchdowns. Along the way, he shattered an old record at Alabama. Jackson had 230 return yards after interceptions in 2015. The previous mark of 163 return yards after interceptions was set by Hootie Ingram in 1952.

On Saturday, Jackson likely will have more than a few chances to add to his interception total. Alabama's opponent, Western Kentucky, threw for more than 500 yards of offense in the Hilltoppers' 46-14 victory against Rice. Western Kentucky's starting quarterback, Mike White, completed 25 of his 31 attempts for 517 yards and three touchdowns.

Coincidentally, Jackson is more than familiar with White. In his first high school game after working his way back to the field from academic probation, Jackson squared off against White and Nova Southeastern University School, a powerhouse team in South Florida. Jackson intercepted White twice in his breakout game.

"Overcoming adversity and mental toughness, that's what Coach Saban preaches," Jackson said.

And he's more than happy to enforce that culture.