Alabama Football: 3 candidates to replace Bill O’Brien

Alabama football’s candidates to replace Bill O’Brien

1. Holmon Wiggins, WR coach

Nick Saban has gone with an internal hire before. Mike Locksley was a former assistant, and Steve Sarkisian had a history with the Tide before becoming the OC. Plenty of defensive coordinators worked their way up for Saban, and this could be another chance for a positions coach to become a coordinator for Alabama football.

Holmon Wiggins has plenty of experience as a positions coach. He worked as an assistant for Memphis and Virginia Tech, and he’s been great with three years under his belt in Tuscaloosa. In 2020, he coached Alabama’s first Heisman winner at receiver. He’s also had four first-round receivers drafted, and he could add to that number with Jameson Williams and John Metchie.

Wiggins also helped recruit the elite 2021 receiver class, and we’ve already seen some production with that unit. The group as a whole is elite, and it’s why Wiggins is now the associate head coach of the offense.

If Saban were to go with an internal hire, Wiggins should be the guy. As a receiver, he knows how to scheme routes to get receivers open. If he can keep recruiting, he might be the best option for Saban.

We’ll see what Alabama football does if O’Brien leaves. There will be candidates outside of this list, but this group makes sense.