Alabama Football: Mike Locksley to be named new Offensive Coordinator

Alabama football has a new offensive coordinator. Mike Locksley is expected to be promoted from his role as Co-OC when Brian Daboll was the Tide OC, QB coach and play-caller.

Late Wednesday afternoon, footballscoop.com said Mike Locksley is expected to be named the Alabama football Offensive Coordinator. Locksley was wide receivers coach and Co-OC last season with Brian Daboll.

Locksley had the support of multiple Crimson Tide players wanting to see him elevated for 2018. It appears Locksley was not Nick Saban’s first choice. Reportedly, Notre Dame OC, Chip Long was offered the position. It is rumored Long’s demands were not acceptable to Saban, Those rumors said Long wanted to be sole OC only (no shared title with Locksley) and control over which assistant coached the offensive line.

Locksley has been coaching since 1992. He played defensive back at Towson. From 1996-2004 he coached running backs, wide receivers, tight ends and quarterbacks in stops at Army, Maryland and Florida. He was the offensive coordinator at Illinois 2005-2008. After two seasons at New Mexico as head coach, he returned to Maryland as OC 2012-2015. He was also interim head coach at Maryland in 2015. Locksley joined the Tide staff as an offensive analyst in 2016.

Locksley is not what Alabama football fans will consider a home-run hire. In his two-plus seasons as New Mexico head coach and his interim head coach stint at Maryland, his record was three wins and 32 losses. He did have some success as OC at Illinois, particularly in 2007 when the Illini went to the Rose Bowl.

Locksley is a top recruiter

Mike Locksley is one of the Tide’s top recruiters and one of the top recruiters in the FBS. 247Sports rates Locksley the No. 23 best recruiter in the nation. Locksley was the lead recruiter for the Tide’s highest profile signee in the 2018 class, 5-Star Eyabi Anoma. Locksley also recruited Xavier Williams, Christian Barmore and Jerome Ford.

Earlier in the week, Brian Daboll credited Locksley with teaching him RPO concepts this season. Some Alabama football fans are concerned Locksley may be overly dependent on RPO and prefer Jalen Hurts over Tua Tagovailoa.

It is still possible Hugh Freeze could become an on-field coach and even Co-OC with Locksley. Another option would be to name Chris Weinke as quarterbacks coach with Freeze as an offensive analyst. For those who don’t remember, Weinke was a Heisman winning QB at FSU. Who handles the QB’s next season may be the most important decision Nick Saban will make in 2018. Locksley did coach quarterbacks at Maryland in 2012-2015.

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There is no question the promotion of Mike Locksley will have the support of Crimson Tide players. Throughout the week, various Alabama football players have tweeted out endorsements of Locksley.