Alabama Football: Nick Saban’s Offensive Brain Trust

In most Alabama football seasons, Nick Saban’s legion of off-field assistants is populated with some coaches needing to rehab their careers. The same can be said for the 2023 season, but there is more going on than coaching rehabs and graduate assistants trying to build coaching careers.

What Nick Saban is doing with analysts for the Alabama football offense indicates more than a few tweaks lie ahead. It appears Saban wants more than a fresh look and some adaptions from Tommy Rees of Saban’s Alabama offense.

In addition to Rees and Crimson Tide offensive assistants Holman Wiggins, Eric Wolford, Robert Gillespie and Joe Cox, Saban has a deep bench of offensive brain power. The core of the off-field offensive group is Derek Dooley, Ken Whisenhunt and John McNulty.

Deep Bench of Alabama Football Brain Power

Dooley, once a head coach at Louisana Tech and Tennessee, has a long history with Saban. Dooley was on Saban staffs at LSU and with the Miami Dolphins. After his two head coaching jobs, Dooley moved to the Dallas Cowboys for five seasons, as wide receivers coach. Next was two seasons at Missouri as Offensive Coordinator and QB coach. He then spent two seasons with the New York Giants before rejoining Saban in Tuscaloosa.

John McNulty is another coaching veteran who has coached for six NFL teams and been an Offensive Coordinator at Rutgers and Boston College. McNulty has also worked with Rees at Notre Same during two seasons as the Fighting Irish’s tight ends coach.

The most recent addition has even more coaching experience than Dooley and McNulty. It is Ken Whisenhunt, who has coached for eight NFL teams, including being the Head Coach for the Arizona Cardinals for six seasons and for the Tennessee Titans for two seasons. He was also the Offensive Coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers and the San Diego and Los Angeles Chargers. The Steelers won a Super Bowl with Whisenhunt as Pittsburgh’s OC. Whisenhunt’s title will be special assistant to Nick Saban.

Several months ago, Nick Saban commented on the Tide’s new addition, saying “Ken and I are really good friends.” Whisenhunt has another connection in Tuscaloosa. Former SEC quarterback, Zach Mettenberger joined Saban’s staff last season. Whisenhunt is Metternberger’s father-in-law.

Other than Mettenbeger, all the other offensive brain trust members are much older than Tommy Rees. Not only should that not be a problem, but the wealth of experience brought in to help the young coach is a major plus. Rees has also added an analyst he worked with in South Bend, John Aylward.

Any Alabama football fans thinking they know how next season’s offense will change; might take a pause. There is a chance Nick Saban, Tommy Rees, the offensive assistant coaches, and the ‘brain trust’ are still building it.