Alabama Football: Two most closely guarded lists in Tuscaloosa

Alabama Football: There are two lists of names in Tuscaloosa and both must be closely guarded until they are needed.

Being clear from the outset, Nick Saban is expected to the Alabama football, head coach for many years to come. The man is as healthy and as hungry as others many years younger. There are no signs of anything but continued success, including more National Championships.

But the man and the school must prepare for when the time comes for a change. The understanding of a necessary transition may come gradually or it could happen suddenly. Either way, Nick Saban and Greg Byrne must have a list of names. Perhaps it is one list that they maintain together. Paul Bryant had one list but he was the Head Coach and the Athletic Director.

Ray Perkins was on Bryant’s list. So were Gene Stallings and Bill Curry, though according to past Alabama football insiders Bryant knew Curry was not yet ready for the task. Many Alabama football fans consider Perkins and Curry failures as Crimson Tide head coaches. Stallings did not fail and could have brought the school more glory, but others made his job untenable.

The Alabama Football program went through six coaches looking for the next Paul Bryant. The frequently painful interval for the Alabama Crimson Tide spanned 24 seasons. Then, Mal Moore ‘found’ Nick Saban or more accurately, Terry Saban found the best opportunity for her and Nick to return to college football. The college football world pivoted when Moore convinced Miss Terry Tuscaloosa was the place to be.

After failing to find a coach equal to Paul Bryant, Alabama football ended up with a coach more than Bryant’s equal. Assuming that can happen again, at some point, is fanciful.

No matter how hard it tries the University of Alabama cannot find a coach equal to Nick Saban. There are none now and will be none for many, many years to come, if ever. A coach who can continue the Crimson Tide championship tradition should be a requirement.

Must it be a member of Nick Saban’s coaching tree? Making that kind of requirement in the era after Bryant led to some missteps. There will not be a next Saban as there was no next Bryant. A successor cannot be a clone. As Bryant and Saban, before him, the next Alabama Crimson Tide Head Football Coach will need to make his own way, driven by his own core principles.

A head coach with a track record of success at a Power Five program seems essential. One with a National Championship pedigree would be a plus. The problem is few coaches can meet those standards. Some who can, might not be the best fit in Tuscaloosa.

Though it is often problematic, a ‘head coach in-waiting’ might be the best future direction. As long as the transition interval is no longer than two or three seasons.

Alabama football fans don’t want to think much about such lists. Just because they won’t be activated for another five, seven, ten years, makes them no less essential.

The info on Nick Saban’s recruiting ‘Big Board’ was considered ‘closely held’ until an exiting Kirby Smart snapped a photo. The digital versions of future head coach names must be guarded more carefully. They should never become public, at least not until that far away future day, when Nick Saban’s replacement is hired.