Alabama Football: Best-Ever Nick Saban Assistant Coaches
By Ronald Evans
Not counting off-field analysts, Alabama football coach Nick Saban has had 37 assistant coaches in Tuscaloosa. Check out the best at each coaching position.
Alabama football coach Nick Saban has worked with 37 assistant coaches in his 12 Crimson Tide seasons. The number will officially grow to 42 when the Tide opens the season against Duke. Detractors say the number is too high, reflecting too much turnover and too frequent change.
In particular, Clemson’s comparative coaching continuity is cited as a reason the Crimson Tide was bested in last season’s national championship game. We make no attempt to resolve that claim.
For Alabama football fans interested in the details of Crimson Tide coaching changes under Nick Saban, a couple of notes are provided below.
- Six of the 37 assistants worked under Nick Saban for five or more seasons
- 20 of the 37 assistants worked or have worked under Nick Saban for two or fewer seasons. Five of those 20, are on the 2019 staff in their second year under Saban. For those wondering, Steve Sarkisian’s one-game stint as Offensive Coordinator was counted as a season.
Keeping the above statistics in perspective, 10 of the 37 assistants became college football head coaches. The number is nine in 2019 after Major Applewhite’s firing by Houston at the end of last season.
Moving on the purpose of this post, the Bama Hammer staff decided to compare notes and come up with which guys we believe have been Nick Saban’s ‘Best-Ever’ Crimson Tide assistants. We did not always agree. The writers penning the words on each selection were given the final say.
Even if some Alabama football fans do not agree with our choices, we hope all of you enjoy our explanations.