Alabama Football: Final 2019 staff comes down to three hires

Nick Saban has moved quickly to build the 2019 Alabama football coaching staff. Even without all changes being official, it now comes down to maybe three hires.

Less than two weeks past an Alabama football championship game loss, Nick Saban has acted quickly. Go to the official site of Alabama athletics, rolltide.com and only six assistants are listed. One of those who is listed, Tosh Lupoi, will become an assistant on Freddie Kitchens’ Cleveland Browns staff.

The other already known departing coaches are Mike Locksley, Brent Key, Dan Enos and Josh Gattis. Locksley was a clear promotion to become head coach at Maryland. Lupoi’s exit is widely believed to have been arranged by Saban. Brent Key moved to Georgia Tech with either the blessing or urging of Saban. The other two moves, Dan Enos to Miami and Josh Gattis to Michigan surprised Saban with a need to fill key 2019 positions.

Though still not official, Steve Sarkisain was a quick solution to the Enos exit. It appeared the Lupoi transition became known sooner that Nick wished. When the Browns confirmed the Lupoi move, Saban was forced to adjust the defensive staff sooner, rather than waiting until the end of recruiting.

As of late Saturday night, the two new hires for defensive positions are Sal Sunseri and Charles Kelly. Neither has been officially announced. On offense, it has been reported Kyle Flood will take over the offensive line.  So, take the five assistants (minus Tosh) still listed by the athletic department and add the four new, soon-to-be hires and the 2019 staff has nine assistants.

But it appears there will be more than one additional opening filled for the 2019 Alabama football staff. Numerous credible insiders believe defensive line coach, Craig Kuligowski will not be part of the 2019 staff. Additionally, it is possible Joe Pannunzio prefers a re-assignment to an off-field position. So the additional hire count is somewhere between one and three.

Also factor in Butch Jones turning down a field position at Maryland. There is broad conjecture Butch passed on Locksley’s Maryland offer for the potential of an on-field gig for Saban.

For the purpose of this discussion, we presume Coach Kool will leave and Pannunzio’s reassignment will be accepted by Saban. If so, three more slots must be filled.

But the number might end up being four more hires. Some insiders contend Saban continues to pursue a defensive coordinator with more DC experience than anyone on the current staff or among the new hires. If that does not transpire, look for Pete Golding to become DC.

Three slots (or four), but who does Saban choose?

Frequently mentioned to fill a future defensive line vacancy is former Crimson Tide coach, Bo Davis. Davis is under a NCAA show-cause penalty until April, so if he is hired, it may not be soon.

The wide receiver position to replace Josh Gattis appears to be down to either Lance Taylor or Butch Jones.

It appears if the running back coach slot comes open, Saban is very interested in Charles Huff from Mississippi State.

To recap the remaining hiring decisions: maybe a new DC; Bo Davis to replace Coach Kool; Taylor or Butch Jones to replace Gattis and maybe Charles Huff to replace Pannunzio. Of course, any or all of these presumptions can be made invalid by new developments.

Even, as it is presumed, with Sark being OC and QB coach, adding a new DC would mean there is not room for everyone projected to be hired and expected to be retained.

The situation is fluid with new information coming out often. Stay connected with Bama Hammer to keep up with everything.