What a new-look training staff indicates for Nick Saban and
When it concerns Alabama football, cause for issue is relative.Sure, it’s been
only 2 seasons without a national championship, however the team changing Alabama in that title seat throughout those two years was SEC rival Georgia. The Crimson Tide at times a year ago simply did not look like the Alabama groups of the past under Nick Saban, and they’re losing a Heisman Prize quarterback with no clear replacement.Despite Bryce Young’s
sparkle over each of the previous two seasons,”all “the Tide could summon throughout that duration was an SEC champion in 2021. What’s more, Alabama is returning less production from last season than any other SEC team and ranks 125th out of 133 FBS teams because department, according to forecasts by ESPN’s Expense Connelly.On top of it all, Saban will get in next season with new offensive and defensive
coordinators.The reality is Alabama will look a lot different in 2023, particularly on offense with Tommy Rees coming in from Notre Dame as the offending organizer. Kevin Steele, very much a part of the Saban family, comes in from Miami as protective planner in what will be his 3rd stint under Saban at Alabama. And in both cases, according to coaches, football insiders and others near the program, the hires suggest Saban might be returning to his roots as he enters his 17th season in Tuscaloosa.”You’re not taking a look at a complete overhaul on either side of the ball, “one veteran head coach told ESPN.
“Nick has adjusted and adapted a lot more than he’s been given credit for. He’s altered as the game has actually changed, however with the instructions you’re seeing him choose his two planner works with, do not be surprised if it looks a bit more like what Alabama looked like 6, seven, eight years back, right in that amount of time.”At least, I ‘d say that’s the plan– running the football on offense, turning you over on defense and just normally punching you in the mouth.” According to those near to the Alabama program, among the important things that the majority of impressed Saban about Rees, a previous quarterback at Notre Dame, was his capability to adjust what the Irish were doing offensively to his quarterback’s strengths, be it Ian Book, Jack Coan, Drew Pyne or Tyler Buchner, who was the star of Notre Dame’s Gator Bowl win over South Carolina last season after breaking his collarbone previously in the year. “I would say above everything else that Rees ‘commitment to running the football and how he developed methods to get his best player the ball,
whether it was a running back like Kyren Williams or tight end like Michael Mayer, had to be a huge factor in Saban’s decision, “one SEC offending organizer told ESPN. Tommy Rees’ capability to adjust his offense at Notre Dame to his quarterback’s strengths was a big plus. Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire To be fair, it’s not like Alabama didn’t or couldn’t run the ball under former offending organizer Bill O’Brien, who left for the New England Patriots. The Tide balanced 195.7 rushing yards per game last season and 150 lawns in 2021. But from 2009, when Saban won his very first nationwide title at Alabama, through the 2017 national championship season, the Tide balanced a minimum of 200 hurrying backyards per game in all however one season. They have not done it because, although they have actually been close a couple of years.And for those slamming O’Brien and the Tide’s offense the previous 2 seasons, Alabama connected for 4th nationally in scoring offense a year ago(41.1 points per game)and was sixth in 2021(39.9 points per game).
“Alabama was so vibrant therefore explosive offensively in 2020 that anybody who came after (Steve Sarkisian)was going to be looked at as a downgrade by fans,”one SEC assistant coach said.”That’s simply the way it is at Alabama.
However I ‘d state Saban knows what he wants and what direction he wants to choose that offense.”The 30-year-old Rees is the antithesis of Steele, who is going on 40 years of experience in business and has coached in the NFL, been a head coach in college and a defensive coordinator at 5 Power 5 schools.” (Rees)much better have thick
skin,”one SEC coach joked. “However you might state that about all of Nick’s offending organizers, no matter what age they are.”According to a source near to the Alabama program, Rees’confidence and self-assuredness shone through during his interview
with Saban, who talked to a wide selection of coaches during his search for an offending organizer. Amongst them: Washington’s Ryan Grubb, previous Florida coach Dan Mullen,
former Tennessee coach Derek Dooley and previous Cleveland Browns coach Freddie Kitchens.”One of Nick’s highests is that he’s always looking for new ideas and new ways to do things,”one former Alabama coach informed ESPN.”He doesn’t mind being challenged in those locations. But there are some things he won’t compromise. It’s still Nick’s offense, and (Rees) will be running his variation of Nick’s offense
.”Protecting the quarterback, whether it’s Ty Simpson or Jalen Milroe, is an area that will require to be resolved in a hurry. The Tide were better because department a year ago and ended up 47th nationally with 22 sacks enabled. But that wants connecting for 120th nationally in 2021( 41 sacks allowed).”
So much of it gets back to, in huge significant games, not just being able to outscheme people and out-big-play people, but having the ability to line up and penalize them in the run game,”a previous SEC coach stated.”I think that’s what Nick wishes to return to, and if you can do that, there’s not as much concern on the quarterback.
“Editor’s Picks 2 Associated Rees, who was the Irish quarterbacks coach for 6 seasons, had an opportunity to opt for Brian Kelly to LSU a year ago however chosen to remain at Notre Dame. He’s smart enough to understand what being Saban’s offensive organizer– quickly among the hardest jobs in college football– can result in for a coach. Saban’s previous 5 offensive organizers are either Power 5 head coaches or NFL head coaches or offending coordinators.”It was the best move for Rees and one that could pay big dividends for him and Saban, “a former coach said.” In any case, it’s going to be fun to see how everything plays out.”Whereas Rees might be discovering on the job a bit after simply 3 years as an offensive organizer, it was a given that Saban wasn’t going to generate someone on defense who required” training wheels.”Not to run Saban’s defense, which
last ended up in the top five nationally in points allowed in 2017, when the Tide led the nation, enabling 11.9 points per game.And make no error, it is and will remain Saban’s defense. Steele has been behind that drape on 2 other occasions, as defensive planner, linebackers coach and player personnel director.Throughout his career, Saban has actually often employed people to run his defense who currently understand the system, understand
how he wants it taught and understand how he desires it run. Actually, the only outlier has been Pete Golding, who left last month to be the Ole Miss defensive planner after holding that position for 4 seasons at Alabama. “Nick has always had system guys– guys who had actually been either football buddies of his when he was an assistant or a younger head coach– and they talked ball a lot and came up through the system with him, “a former Alabama coach said.”Everyone sort of knew the subtleties of the defense, which is quite extensive, and how to apply the principles to defend specific things and the extensions of those things.”And that got given through the family.”Steele belongs to that family going back even prior to he worked with Saban for the very first time in 2007. Steele was the within linebackers coach for the Carolina Panthers ‘first string in 1995. The head coach of that group was Dom Capers, who was with Saban at Kent State when they began their training careers as graduate assistants in the early 1970s. The offensive planner on that very first Panthers team was Joe Pendry, who stays one of Saban’s closest confidants in football. New defensive organizer Kevin Steele is back for a third stint under Nick Saban at Alabama. Jeffrey Vest/Icon Sportswire”It’s a huge defensive household, a household that’s linked, and Kevin has actually been groomed because household, “one longtime defensive organizer stated.”He knows what Nick desires, knows what the offseason program is expected to look like, understands what Nick desires when it pertains to developing players and knows that every information matters.”Undoubtedly, Saban has constantly had family tree connections on defense– Kirby Smart, Will Muschamp, Jeremy Pruitt, Todd Grantham, Glenn Schumann, Bo Davis, Dean Pees, Capers and Steele. And there are others down through the years.” They all grew up in the system or came up in the system in some fashion, “one coach said. “I guess you could state they grew up in ‘The Process.'”Steele, 64, has actually had a close-up view of what that”process “looks like from 2 opposing perspective in the SEC. He was LSU’s defensive planner in 2015 and Auburn’s protective coordinator from 2016 to 2020. Auburn beat Alabama’s 2017 championship game team, and Steele was a finalist for the Broyles Award that season as the
top assistant coach in the nation. He ran out a task after Auburn coach Gus Malzahn was fired following the 2020 season, sat out the 2021 season, then landed at Miami.In nearly 40 years and 15 training stops, Steele’s career is a prime example of how there are bound to be some dips along the method. He was a dreadful 1-31 in conference games as Baylor’s head coach from 1999 to 2002, and he was fired
as Clemson’s defensive organizer in January 2012 after the Tigers, who won the ACC champion that season, were torched 70-33 by West Virginia in the Orange Bowl.Steele, who played football at Tennessee under Johnny Majors, has worked for some of the biggest names in the sport, consisting of Tom Osborne, Bobby Bowden, Dabo Swinney, Majors and now Saban for a 3rd time.” It’s always in the eyes of the beholder,” Osborne told ESPN in 2015 when discussing Steele’s career.”What a single person remembers about you may not be what other individuals remember about you
. Kevin has actually had way more success than he has bumps in the roadway.”One longtime coach explained that Steele’s recruiting success in the SEC footprint undoubtedly weighed heavily in Saban’s choice. Like Saban, Steele is a ruthless recruiter, and Saban relied on Steele implicitly in his evaluations of players and how they would fit in at Alabama throughout his previous stints with the Tide.
“The other feature of Kevin is he understands Nick and used a great deal of different hats in managing players and scenarios when he was there the last time, “a previous Alabama staffer stated.” He also understands how to deal with him when the s– strikes the fan.” Some might state the stuff will strike the fan in Tuscaloosa if Alabama goes a 3rd straight season without winning a national title– which remarkably has actually never ever happened because Saban got here in 2007– but history likewise tells us that it’s silly to start recommending Saban has lost his fastball, even at 71. Yes, he lost both of his planners, however he’ll depend on one fresh face and one familiar face as their replacements in his quest to raise a championship game trophy for the seventh time at Alabama.