Alabama Football: The too-often revolving door for Crimson Tide assistant coaches is spinning again. Check out the latest ‘outs’ and possible ‘ins.’
Success will again collect a toll on Alabama Football. Call it one of the prices of greatness. Being an Alabama Crimson Tide assistant is frequently used as a springboard to a coaching promotion or the door to a head coaching job.
Losing Steve Sarkisian was not only predictable but understandable. Passing on Auburn was easy. Saying no to the deep-pocketed Texas Longhorns was not possible for Sark. Only a Nick Saban would disdain entreaties from the Longhorns.
Also out from the Alabama football staff are three analysts. Butch Jones took the head coach job at Arkansas State. Butch wanted to hire A.J. Milwee or Major Applewhite to be his offensive coordinator. Milwee initially accepted but soon flipped to a better gig as Sark’s quarterback coach in Austin. Applewhite came close to joining Butch but instead decided to take the same job at South Alabama.
Alabama football, offensive line coach, Kyle Flood appears to be joining Sarkisian at Texas as Offensive Coordinator. The promotion might give Flood a better path to a future head coach job, as he once was at Rutgers. An announcement is expected as soon as Wednesday afternoon.
There have been rumors Alabama football assistants, Jeff Banks and Karl Scott may join Sark’s staff. A counter-rumor is Banks has no intention to leave Tuscaloosa. The most frequent rumor of a Tide coach exit is Holman Wiggins taking the same wide receivers position in Austin.
UPDATED: Most recent information on staff changes available here.
Crimson Tide super-recruiter and running backs coach, Charles Huff is interviewing for the head coach position at Marshall. Huff would be a great choice for the Thundering Herd after they parted ways with Doc Holliday.
The number of jobs Nick Saban must fill might be as few as two. The big one is a new Offensive Coordinator. There are many indications Bill O’Brien is the leading candidate to replace Sarkisian. O’Brien is reportedly in Tuscaloosa on Wednesday, his second recent visit with Nick Saban.
Alabama football fans mostly embrace the idea of O’Brien as OC. He had enough cred from just one previous job, as OC for Bill Belichick in New England. A long-time assistant, going back to 1993, O’Brien was also a head coach at Penn State and for the Houston Texans. In the 2012 season, O’Brien won the national coach of the year honor, being named the Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant Award winner.
Some Alabama football fans are not sold on O’Brien, citing his clashes with players as the Texans Head Coach and General Manager during the 2020 season. There are rumors the Miami Dolphins are interested in O’Brien as offensive coordinator. O’Brien can be summarized by saying he was a great OC, a pretty good head coach and a terrible NFL General Manager.
Alabama football fans don’t always agree with Nick Saban’s hires. Nick Saban is always right.