After a disappointing finish to the Alabama Football season, Nick Saban’s staff has once again gone through a massive overhaul.
Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss. That’s about the only thing that hasn’t changed on Alabama’s coaching staff from last season until now. After a disappointing 44-16 loss to Clemson in the National Championship Game, Alabama head coach Nick Saban went through a complete staff overhaul with a few forced departures and a few surprising changes.
Alabama replaced six on-field staff members after winning the 2017 National Championship, and then turned around and had to replace seven more during this coaching carousel.
Recruiting was the main focus of Alabama’s staff changes last year after the Tide uncharacteristically slipped to No. 6 in the recruiting rankings. The staff overhaul came with an eye toward the recruiting trail, with guys like Josh Gattis and Craig Kuligowski being brought in so Saban could get Alabama back on top, overtaking the new giant that had emerged in Athens helmed by his former defensive coordinator.
Tosh Lupoi was promoted from linebackers coach to defensive coordinator, despite reservations on Saban’s part about him not being ready for the gig, because Lupoi was one of the nation’s top recruiters and if he wasn’t given the promotion in Tuscaloosa he would have been snatched up by another program willing to let him call the defense.
Saban’s fears of Lupoi being in over his head were quickly realized as the first-year defensive coordinator struggled to grasp the nature of calling defense; Lupoi reportedly had trouble with the secondary calls, and it didn’t help that Alabama had to replace its top six contributors from the back-end of their defense, either. There was no experienced alpha-dog for Lupoi to lean on, and as much as Saban has been lauded for his ability to work with defensive backs, he couldn’t focus the requisite time needed to make sure things were smooth. Saban hoped Lupoi would grow into the defensive coordinator role, but that never happened.
Halfway through the season, Lupoi was stripped of his play-calling duties and they were given to co-defensive coordinator Pete Golding, who will now take over the role as full-time defensive coordinator after a year spent learning Saban’s system. Golding is a rising star in the profession, showing his prowess working with defenses at UTSA before making the move to Tuscaloosa last year.
Golding isn’t the veteran flashy hire, and after the struggles Alabama’s defense had against Clemson, with Golding making the calls, it’s fair to wonder whether he might also be in over his head as a young coach at this level.
Golding, defensive backs coach Karl Scott, and special teams coordinator Jeff Banks are the lone holdovers from last season’s on-field staff. Golding is now the full-time defensive coordinator, Banks remains in his same role, and Scott shifts to focus his attention solely on the cornerbacks.
There’s seven new on-field coaches joining Alabama’s staff this season, surpassing last season’s total and giving Alabama a ridiculous 13 new coaches over a two-year period.
Here’s Alabama’s on-field coaching staff for 2019, joining head coach Nick Saban:
Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks: Steve Sarkisian
Running Backs: Charles Huff
Wide Receivers: Holmon Wiggins
Offensive Line: Kyle Flood
Defensive Coordinator/inside linebackers: Pete Golding
Defensive Line: Brian Baker
Outside Linebackers: Sal Sunseri
Cornerbacks: Karl Scott
Safeties/Associate Defensive Coordinator: Charles Kelly
Special Teams/Tight Ends: Jeff Banks
New offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian comes back to Alabama after a one-game stint as the Crimson Tide’s play-caller against Clemson in the 2017 CFP National Championship Game. Fairly or unfairly, Sarkisian was blamed for the loss to Clemson in that game with Alabama’s offense struggling to find breathing room in the second half, and an exhausted defense finally succumbing to Deshaun Watson and company. Sarkisian was hamstrung by a freshman Jalen Hurts who, while winning the SEC Offensive Player of the Year award, wasn’t much outside of a one-read and run quarterback. When Bo Scarbrough broke his leg, Alabama’s offense couldn’t find its footing. Sarkisian was calling the offense with one, and at times both, hands tied behind his back.
Sarkisian also took some fair grief over his struggles as the Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator in the NFL. Sarkisian took over an offense that was tops in the NFL coming off of a Super Bowl appearance, and immediately made the offense middling. He did, however, turn it around in his second season with the Falcons finishing with a Top-10 offense in 2018. He’s a proven play-caller in college, and will pick up the slack on the west coast recruiting now that Lupoi is in Cleveland. He’s also an outstanding quarterbacks coach, with a great relationship with Tua Tagovailoa.
Saban’s goal with this staff was to get a little bit older while maintain the strength on the recruiting trail; bringing in some guys who might not be as idealistic hoping to use Tuscaloosa as a springboard to the next opportunity. Guys like Charles Kelly and Sal Sunseri are veteran, grizzled coaches who have been long-time assistants and probably don’t have the initiative to push for head coaching gigs at this point in their careers. Former Rutgers head coach Kyle Flood has been there and done that, and after his disastrous tenure in Piscataway, it’s unlikely Flood will have an opportunity to be a head coach again anytime soon. They’re all also guys who aren’t going to balk at the ridiculous hours that Saban requests from his assistants.
Brian Baker was brought in from Mississippi State to hopefully replicate Mike Locksley’s success in recruiting the DMV. Locksley is currently putting a wall around the area, but Baker is a Baltimore native and has strong connections with local high schools. Alabama’s top 2020 commitment is five-star edge rusher Chris Braswell out of Baltimore; Baker will be tasked with making sure Braswell sticks with that commitment.
Joining Baker from Starkville is Charles Huff, who came to Mississippi State via Happy Valley, joining Joe Moorhead when he got the head coaching job with the Bulldogs. Huff has a strong reputation as a running backs coach, recruiting and coaching No. 2 overall pick Saquon Barkley during his time with Penn State.
A lot of these hires sound good on the surface, but that was also the case last year, and there were murmurs throughout the season that, despite Alabama’s undefeated record, that the staff surrounding Saban was one of the weakest of his tenure at the Capstone.
Saban is a tough guy to work for; the same traits that have made him arguably the best head coach in college football history are the same kind of traits that cause assistants to bolt at ridiculously high rates. He’s obsessive, demanding, and unrelenting. Some might go beyond that, adding colorful language to describe the obsessive-compulsive drive to win that not only fuels Saban, but completely engulfs his everyday life.
He feels like mundane moments like spending time with his family or even having to stand up to close his office door is time that could be better spent doing tasks that ensures his team is better prepared than the opposition. That comes at a cost, too, because extra time breaking down film eats at Saban because he knows someone else is on the phone with a recruit, trying to poach him away from Alabama’s grasps.
That weighs on his assistants, and causes the high turnover rate among his assistants. He’s hoping that he got it right this time with this crop of assistants; that maybe he’s found his next Kirby Smart in Golding and that for the most part this group of assistants will at least make it longer than one year together before searching for greener pastures.
For better or worse, it’s a new day in Tuscaloosa with a new pool of assistants who have to shoulder the National Championship or bust expectations that accompanies Alabama Football.