Alabama Football New Offensive Coordinator: 10 Names; 4 Maybes; 6 No-Way
By Ronald Evans
The Alabama Football search and 10 Possibilities: 4 coaches who could be hired and 6 coaches who have no chance.
The Alabama Football Offensive Coordinator search has sent a shock-wave across the college football landscape. It is the hottest topic since the championship game. Yesterday media experts, caught by surprise, were throwing names around that have no chance.
Today let’s take a few deep breaths and ease away from the clamor. History tells us Nick Saban is not likely to be in a rush to make a decision. We can be assured the man who has a plan for everything will not make a move until his choice is sure.
We can speculate on what strengths Saban will be seeking in his next hire. First and foremost, Saban wants a coach who is adaptable. Nick is not totally turning over the offense to anyone. From the Kiffin experience, we know Nick is open to new ideas and styles of play.
We also know that no Saban team will ever be willing to simply outscore the opposition, Big 12 style. Alabama, through Saban’s recruiting wizardry, has loaded up on dangerous running backs and big, strong and quick offensive linemen. Saban will demand run/pass offensive balance be achieved.
It is reasonable to expect that Saban is looking to hire a coach who is a gifted “Quarterback-Whisperer.” All the Tide quarterbacks are young. They need a coach with whom they can bond. They need a coach who knows young men, almost as well as he does X’s and O’s.
Let’s work our way through a list of 10 coaches. Four of them seem to fit the requirements defined above. Then we will look at six more that do not.