This Head Coach Is Primed To Take Over At Alabama
A day after Nick Saban decided he was going to step down and retire, a familiar SEC face looks like he will be up next to lead the Crimson Tide in their new era.
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The New Era In Alabama
Nick Saban spent 17 years as the Alabama head coach and, in that time, has won nine SEC championships and six National Championships—an incredible feat to surpass for whoever the next head coach is in Tuscaloosa.
So… Who replaces one of the greatest, if not the greatest, head coach in college football? There have been rumblings of coaches who could take over the job: Dan Lanning, Lane Kiffin, Steve Sarkisian, Mike Norvell, and Dabo Swinney.
However, of all these candidates, one stands out more than the others: Lane Kiffin. Lane Kiffin was once an offensive coordinator under Nick Saban for the Alabama Crimson Tide. He is a familiar SEC face coaching for the Tennessee Volunteers, as well as currently coaching the Ole Miss Runnin’ Rebels.
Why Oh Why?
The first question I believe many Tide fans want answered is why Kiffin? Kiffin is not the prettiest choice when it comes to all of the candidates on the board. Dan Lanning has already announced he will not take the job in Tuscaloosa and will stay in Oregon.
The sexiest pick in Dabo Swinney comes at a risk. Yes, the two-time National Championship-winning coach is considered a risk. The college football landscape over the past five years has been completely overhauled. The transfer portal is a huge part of being successful in college football nowadays, and Dabo has made it very clear he does not want to participate unless he has to. Not to mention, Alabama fans have been loudly reluctant to welcome Swinney.
The following two candidates, I believe, were thrown into the fire based on mere success alone. Steve Sarkisian and Mike Norvell. Steve Sarkisian led a Texas Longhorns team to the College Football Playoff for the first time in the playoff era and also beat Alabama early on this past season. However, Steve Sarkisian was the Alabama offensive coordinator prior to accepting the job at Texas
Mike Norvell led a Florida State Seminoles team to an undefeated season. They ended up becoming the first and likely only Power-Five team to miss the College Football Playoffs despite being undefeated. Norvell’s success has been limited, contrary to this season, going only 31-17 over four seasons at Florida State.
Bottomline
In my non-insider source opinion I believe the main targets in the Alabama coaching search will be Lane Kiffin and Steve Sarkisian. News broke today that Nick Saban will possibly still be involved in the program in some capacity due to an office being built for him above Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Based off that info alone I think it will be someone who has already been involved with the program recently while Saban was the coach. That narrows this search down to those two. It will be interesting to see how this huge coaching search turns out!
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