Alabama Football staff rinse and repeat time for Nick Saban

The revolving door for Alabama Football assistants seems to be always turning. Crimson Tide fans agonized for years that frequent assistant coach turnover was harming the program. In reality, that has rarely been true.

Nick Saban is never deterred by the exit of a coach. Sometimes he helps facilitate it. After every season Saban reviews each member of his staff. He knows their strengths and weaknesses, their successful work, and is ever watchful for anything that comes up short of his standard.

Saban is demanding. It serves him and the Alabama Football program well. Being a Crimson Tide assistant is too difficult for some coaches. None of them are in Tuscaloosa long.

Nick Saban is adept at the ‘rinse and repeat’ process of building a new staff, to some degree, every season. Based on reports and rumors, he’ll soon be doing it again with the Crimson Tide 2022 coaching staff.

The most recent. more than a rumor, report is that cornerbacks coach, Jay Valai will be leaving Tuscaloosa to join Brent Venables at Oklahoma. Valai is well-traveled. Last January he was working for Tom Herman at Texas. After Herman was fired, Houston announced he would be joining the Cougars staff. Less than two weeks later the Philadelphia Eagles hired him and two weeks after that Valai accepted an offer from Nick Saban.

The most recent rumor is that Tide wide receivers coach, Holman Wiggins may join Marcus Freeman’s staff at Notre Dame. Another rumor is Bill O’Brien being a head coach candidate for the NFL Jacksonville Jaguars. If O’Brien received an offer to be a head coach in the NFL again, it is hard to imagine him turning it down. An O’Brien exit would likely mean a Doug Marrone exit as well.

Crimson Tide fans are hoping a vacancy on the defensive side of the ball could be filled by Jeremy Pruitt. Pruitt might have an NCAA hurdle carried over from his Tennessee tenure. Another question about Pruitt is whether he would be content working under Pete Golding.

Two more names that excite Alabama football fans are former Crimson Tide coach, Karl Scott and former LSU assistant and current Flordia assistant Corey Raymond. It is hard to imagine Raymond suddenly leaving Billy Napier after his recent hiring.

It would not be surprising if Jimmy Lake joined the former, head coach, analyst team in Tuscaloosa.

Rumors will swirl for days and possibly weeks. There is no reason to believe they will distract anyone from preparing for the National Championship game.