5. Alabama’s continued staff turnover is tough to overcome
Alabama had six first-year coaches on their staff this season after massive staff overhaul took place following the 2017 National Championship win. After some recruiting misses in that cycle, Saban hoped to hire a young and energetic staff to help on the trail.
He did just that, and Alabama jumped back atop the recruiting class rankings as a result. Saban will be back on the hunt this offseason, though, as at least four new coaches will be on the on-field staff in 2019 after another mass exodus following the conclusion of the season. Fortunately, the early signing period probably helped Alabama hold on to a few blue-chip prospects who may have wavered if they knew some of these coaches would be leaving.
Mike Locksley departs after one-year as the team’s offensive coordinator and three-years total on the staff. He was hired as the new head coach at Maryland.
QB’s coach Dan Enos was widely expected to be his successor, but he instead was named the new offensive coordinator at Miami, fueling the speculation that soon-to-be former-Alabama QB Jalen Hurts might follow him down to Coral Gables. Enos spend one year on the staff.
WR’s coach Josh Gattis, who was hired away from Penn State this past offseason, was thought to be joining Locksley at Maryland before accepting the offensive coordinator job at Michigan.
Offensive line coach Brent Key, who had spent three years on the Alabama staff, departed for the same job at his alma mater Georgia Tech.
There could be more on the horizon, with rumors swirling about defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi‘s potential interest in jumping ship to join Kirby Smart in Athens, and potential flirtations running backs coach Joe Pannunzio could be having with NFL teams.
You’d be hard pressed to find another program with more coaching turnover than Alabama has had without the changing of a head coach. The only two coaches remaining on the staff who were apart of the 2016 staff are Lupoi and long-time strength-and-conditioning coach Scott Cochran.
The coaching staff turnover seemed to play a direct and indirect role in the loss to Clemson. Under Dabo Swinney, Clemson has had remarkable continuity on their staff with his innate ability to retain coaches despite significant interest from other programs. On Clemson’s on-field staff, they had zero coaches were in their first year at the university, and just two who had been with the program less than five years. They aren’t expected to have much turnover this offseason, either.
Indirectly, Clemson’s staff continuity helped with the landing of the No. 1 player in the state of Alabama last season, WR Justyn Ross. The Central Phenix City standout lit up the Crimson Tide in the title game for 153 yards and a touchdown. He said in the past his biggest reason for choosing Clemson over Alabama was the continued staff continuity that Alabama couldn’t offer, but Clemson could.
With Locksley’s departure, Saban will be looking for his fifth offensive coordinator since 2016. Locksley joins last year’s offensive coordinator Brian Daboll as one-and-dones at the position. With the amount of talent returning on offense for the Tide next year, including rising junior Tua Tagovailoa, there will be a long list of interested applicants to take over the job.
Staff turnover is nothing new at Alabama as rival programs always look to Saban’s staff to pillage coaches whenever possible, but it has begun taking its toll.