Alabama Football: 5 potential replacements for OC Bill O’Brien

Per a tweet by NFL insider Adam Schefter, Alabama football’s offensive coordinator is leaving the Crimson Tide to reunite with Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots in the same position. While Belichick and the Pats look to fix their struggling offense, Alabama head coach Nick Saban is looking for an offensive coordinator.

O’Brien received his share of criticism during his tenure in Tuscaloosa. However, the Alabama offense was one of the nation’s best while O’Brien was the offensive coordinator. Quarterback Bryce Young won the Heisman Trophy in 2021, and the Crimson Tide finished sixth and fourth in scoring under O’Brien.

Whoever takes over the offense has some rebuilding to do. Quarterback Bryce Young is a likely candidate to be the first overall pick in the NFL. Running back Jahmyr Gibbs is also off to the NFL.  Tyler Steen, Cameron Latu, and Emil Ekiyor Jr. have also declared for the draft.  labama also loses key contributors to the transfer portal as well.

The most notable contributor in the portal is Traeshon Holden. Most of the players transferring, however, are backups.

The biggest question in Tuscaloosa is, “Who’s playing quarterback?” Jalen Milroe, Ty Simpson, and Eli Holstein are all highly-touted recruits but don’t be surprised if the Crimson Tide looks for a quarterback in the portal after spring practice. That said, the style of play will dictate who has the inside track to start at quarterback next fall.

Here are five potential candidates to be Alabama’s next offensive coordinator.

5-4. Garrett Riley, Kendall Briles

Garrett Riley and Kendall Briles make this list because they are two of the hottest coordinators in the country. They just took jobs, so it is doubtful they will leave for another position. That said, it’s Alabama, and we’ve seen coaches take jobs and go before coaching the team. The money and po ential for winning a National Championship might be too much to pass up for either Riley or Briles.