Alabama football fans should be very confident the 2019 offense will excel under the skilled direction of Offensive Coordinator, Steve Sarkisian.
It is not easy being Steve Sarkisian. Not because of his past, personal struggles he still works to overcome, but simply because he is the Alabama football, Offensive Coordinator.
Coordinators under Nick Saban have tough challenges, particularly the offensive coordinators. Critics claim Saban demands too much from his assistant coaches. If that is true to any degree, it is even harder for the offensive coaches.
The Crimson Tide defensive and offensive coordinators do not free-lance with new ideas. Everything they do must be inside the parameters established by Nick Saban. It is somewhat easier for the defensive guys because Nick Saban has a detailed defensive system of play. He used it before he came to Tuscaloosa and while it changes as the game changes, Saban’s defensive plans are consistent.
The Crimson Tide offensive coordinators have more leeway to adapt while fulfilling Saban’s defined goals. That added flexibility also makes them more vulnerable to failure. Being an Alabama football offensive coordinator has never been easy. In the later Bryant years, occasional offensive weaknesses were almost always blamed on Mal Moore.
In the Saban era, Alabama football fans measure offensive coordinators on a pass-fail basis. The OC passes if the Tide wins a national championship and he fails if it doesn’t. On that basis, Major Applewhite and Mike Locksley were failures. Yes, the explosive Locks offense set many records but it failed the class final.
The Alabama Crimson Tide won four national championships in the nine seasons, Jim McElwain, Doug Nussmeier and Lane Kiffin were offensive coordinators. Only McElwain left Tuscaloosa on his own terms.
If letter grades were handed out for the OCs many fans would give Nussmeier a ‘B’ or lower, even though he coached one national championship offense. Brian Daboll, who had a perfect national championship score is probably another OC, Tide fans would give a ‘B’ at best.
We are fellow Tide fans, an almost insanely demanding lot. Steve Sarkisian returned to Tuscaloosa knowing in the minds of some Tide fans he was already a failure. The 2016 National Championship game loss should be chalked up against Lane Kiffin, but Sark is forced to share the blame.
Sarkisian could have stayed in the NFL. Some Atlanta fans were glad about his exit but he is respected for his offensive mind. It is not that many years ago when Kiffin was one of Sark’s pupils.
Speaking recently about his return to Alabama football, Sarkisian spoke of his personal respect for Nick Saban.
"he’s a really good man. I think sometimes that gets missed in this — the compassion that he has for his players and his coaches, the desire he has for all of them have success. I appreciated the year I was with him in 2016, and it was a pretty easy decision to come back and work for him again. I feel like I grew a lot in that season of being with him. I still have a lot of room to grow as a coach, and when you can get around somebody like coach Saban to work under, to learn from, it’s a hard opportunity to pass up."
It appears Sarkisian still appreciates the opportunity Nick Saban gave him to be an offensive analyst in 2016. For Sark, it was a time he was not getting many offers.
There was another attraction for Sark in returning to Tuscaloosa – Tua Tagovailoa. The two go back before Tuscaloosa and the bond was so close Tua could now be a USC Trojan. Sarkisian shared his perspective on Tua,
"Tua’s a very instinctual player. He’s got great instincts for the game, he’s got a very quick release. But I think the biggest thing about him is he’s had to deal with a lot of success and then the hardship at the end of last year. To see him put in the work this offseason — I know coach Saban been pushing him to do a lot of the little things to become the best player he can be."
Sarkisian and Tua share the same burden of expectations. With Alabama football success is, and hopefully always will be, defined by national championships.
Given the history, the established relationships and the shared expectations, the Nick-Sark-Tua trio appear to possess powerful intangibles. The 2019 Crimson Tide offense is in good hands.