Alabama Football: Who the Tide should hire as Offensive Coordinator

In the past three years, Alabama Football is one for three in National Championship games. Not a lack of talent but how to use the talent has resulted in two of those losses and nearly a third. Here are the attributes that Coach Nick Saban must find in his next offensive coordinator.

Want an alarming trend for Alabama Football on the biggest stage?

Look at third down conversions. In this year’s National Championship game against Clemson Alabama was 4-of-13 on third down. Against Georgia it was 3-of-14, and against Clemson in Tampa Bay, it was 2-of-15.

Such offensive performances cannot win championships.

Game data highlights two major flaws within Alabama’s offensive play calling the past three seasons. First, is a lack of balance. Second, is a lack of innovation.

Both of these flaws must be corrected by Coach Saban’s next offensive coordinator.

Bringing Balance back to Alabama Football

Want a tough job?

Find a way to distribute the football to Jerry Jeudy, DeVonta Smith, Henry Ruggs III, Jaylen Waddle, Hale Hentges, Najee Harris, Brian Robinson, and Trey Sanders next season for maximum offensive output.

While this sounds easy, it is hard to do. When everyone on the field is capable of making plays, finding a balanced approach to keep a defense off track is a challenge.

Want to know the only offensive coordinator to bring balance to Alabama Football’s offensive attack? Lane Kiffin

You may laugh but think about this. Kiffin’s offense took Blake Simms and Jake Coker into the playoffs and made one of them a National Champion. Yes, Jake Coker had the Heisman Trophy-winning talent of Derrick Henry. However, Coker was responsible for beating Clemson, not Henry. Coker spread the football around to an offense that made guys who were not seen in the regular season (OJ Howard) into superstars.

In the national championship win, Alabama beat Clemson with a third-down percentage 9-of-18.

Why is it 2018 Alabama had the most offensive talent since Kiffin left, but stalled out continually on the biggest stage when using that talent?

I believe the offensive coordinators for the past three seasons have struggled to find a balance between throwing and running. The reason was a lack of innovation.

Finding Innovation for an Explosive Offense

What did we see in the most recent national championship game when Alabama was on offense?

Nothing new!

It was the exact same offense seen all season, all well-known by Clemson.

There were no new wrinkles to exploit weaknesses in Clemson’s defense. Just the same RPO plays and shotgun runs that had worked all season before the National Championship.

This is why Alabama has struggled in the past three National Championship games.

Not doing anything different is the major problem.  Believing what has worked all year long will continue to work, the Crimson Tide has not game-planned for the opponent.

Which brings us to the one time in the last three years that Alabama has won a National Championship.

Want to know why Alabama beat Georgia?

Innovation came in the form of a backup quarterback coming off the bench and running plays in an offense for which Georgia was not prepared.

When you look across the field and see what Clemson did while on offense, they changed from their own standards. Coach Saban stated in his post-game conference that “they (Clemson) did do some things that we weren’t prepared for”.

What did Alabama do that Clemson wasn’t prepared for? Nothing.

Therein lies the difference, that was ultimately seen on the scoreboard. While Clemson had instituted new plays and lineups, Alabama had not. These differences made the outcome what it was.

There is no excuse for an Alabama offense, having this past season’s talent, to only score 16 points.

Conclusion

An offensive coordinator is worth his weight in gold when able to use all the talent on the roster to near maximum potential.

They find ways to create advantages and mismatches for their offense.

They create new schemes and looks to keep a defense off balance.

All while keeping a balance between running and throwing.

The next offensive coordinator for Alabama football must identify the correct balance for the talent on this year’s upcoming roster. At the same time, they must instill an innovative offense that becomes unstoppable because it is impossible to prepare for all the options.