Who is Saban's replacement?

[Snuffy Smith]

Basically he said to do the job the way he wants to requires fourteen hour days, and he can’t do fourteen hour days.

No matter how good you feel or how fit you are at 72, you are still 72. Add that to the fact that he has been working probably 50 of those 72 years close to those 14 hour days. I am 6 years younger but I can tell you I don't have the energy to work the hours I worked when I was 50. Luckily in my job I am able to slow down and still be valuable to my employer. A head coach in CFB doesn't have that luxury. If they do, then you get what you had at "fill in the blank", FSU, Penn State, etc. I don't read anything into what he said other than what TexasBama points out - the "health concerns" were basically, can't do the job the way I need to do the job and maintain my health.

 

[Snuffy Smith]

The world will be shocked when the Gus Bus rolls into T-town!

Where is that list of items that gets you an immediate suspension. This should be on it 😉

 

[Evil Crimson Dragon]

Prime Time. He definitely would be a big time recruiter.

He would run off all the good players.................No thanks

 

[Titans&Tide]

You know, it strikes me as interesting that with NIL and the portal, we basically have a free agency system that, while not identical to what exists in the NFL, is similar to what exists there. To me, it wouldn't be too great a leap in thought for Saban - who, remember, said earlier today that he is planning to continue being involved at the University going forward - to move into more of a General Manager/Mentor/Roster Management type of role with a head coach like a DeMeco Ryans in place to continue the traditional coaching role.

Currently in CFB, the two roles - GM and HC - are the same guy. What's to stop us from changing that paradigm?

 

[Snuffy Smith]

We got to step it up
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What we really need now is a Loooong Cat post

 

[TexasBama]

Mike Gundy has been rumored to have expressed interest in the position.

 

[graydogg85]

I think Kalen DeBoer would hire the right guys who do know how to recruit this part of the country. There's just some coaches who can win anywhere, and I think Kalen DeBoer is one of them. From what I can tell, he really knows what he's doing, especially when it comes to putting together a staff.

A career record of 104-12 is insane, even though the bulk of those wins came at a tiny NAIA program.

But even his FBS record is pretty dang impressive: 37-9 in four seasons at Fresno and Washington. 25-3 in two years in Seattle. A record that gaudy typically doesn't happen completely by accident, and it's not like his rosters at Fresno and Washington were brimming with five-stars. I would support that hire, especially if he brought in some assistants with SEC experience.

 

[colbysullivan]

I think we have to go with someone that has experience in taking over for a legend because that will be a huge task. I can think of only one guy that has experience in doing something similar and he also has Alabama ties. It has to be none other then Bill O’Brien who took over for Joe Paterno.

If this is a serious post, you should probably leave.

 

[tideindc]

This may end up being a situation like when we had to replace golding and BOB several months ago. Many here said, “ don’t worry, there strong replacements ready to go.” As it turned out, none of the top candidates took the jobs and we ended up with Plan B or Plsn C. Btw…not saying either TR or a Steele were bad coordinators…..but they were not the big names being rumored.

So this may take longer than expected. In my opinion… none of the names being thrown out there will be easy to land, other than Kiffin, who is so risky from a personality standpoint.

 

[TexasBama]

I’m just putting this out there, let’s go get Bill Belichek

 

[CB4]

Well Jimmy Sexton is in the Mal Moore complex. Could be there to hammer out the details for CNS’s “retirement” package or talk about a new coach. His clients include:
Mike Norvell
Lane Kiffin
Sark
DeBoer
Among others…

Narrows it down a bunch…

 

[Evil Crimson Dragon]

Well Jimmy Sexton is in the Mal Moore complex. Could be there to hammer out the details for CNS’s “retirement” package or talk about a new coach. His clients include:
Mike Norvell
Lane Kiffin
Sark
DeBoer
Among others…

Narrows it down a bunch…

Sexton has his hands in everything..............wouldnt be shocked if its both

 

[BamaFanTN]

Well Jimmy Sexton is in the Mal Moore complex. Could be there to hammer out the details for CNS’s “retirement” package or talk about a new coach. His clients include:
Mike Norvell
Lane Kiffin
Sark
DeBoer
Among others…

Narrows it down a bunch…

Or discuss Saban's severance package 😄

 

[Evil Crimson Dragon]

Mike Gundy has been rumored to have expressed interest in the position.
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No Mullets

 

[bamanut_aj]

Why not. Make his mark in Bama lore. Get a statue next to Bear and Saban. I can think of 100 reasons.

Unless Ryans has always wanted to come to BAMA as the HC, there is absolutely zero benefit for him leaving the Texans. In fact it will be an even HARDER job, and not much more money.

 

[KrAzY3]

A career record of 104-12 is insane, even though the bulk of those wins came at a tiny NAIA program.

But even his FBS record is pretty dang impressive: 37-9 in four seasons at Fresno and Washington. 25-3 in two years in Seattle. A record that gaudy typically doesn't happen completely by accident, and it's not like his rosters at Fresno and Washington were brimming with five-stars. I would support that hire, especially if he brought in some assistants with SEC experience.

The issue we have here, and it's a greater version of the concern people have with Dabo, is just can he make the step up and can he recruit better than he has?

The Pac-12 isn't an especially difficult conference, so the question is does he maintain that success at a higher level? Furthermore, does he not just adapt to the southeast, but does he recruit better?

He's never been a great recruiter from what I can tell, so he'd have to both adapt and improve. Every realistic possibility seems to have some big question marks, his isn't can he coach... but can be recruit the southeast (much) better than he's been recruiting out west? He's not going to have that same level of success without more 4 and 5 stars going against SEC teams...

 

[Al A Bama]

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So, 48 hours to make that HUGE decision. I'm waiting.

 

[Snuffy Smith]

What if the shocking candidate is Urban Meyer 😨

 

[bamatex82]

Is there an issue with Drinkwitz? No one is talking about him and he's done a fantastic job at Missouri.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

This may end up being a situation like when we had to replace golding and BOB several months ago. Many here said, “ don’t worry, there strong replacements ready to go. As it turned out, none of the top candidates took the jobs and we ended up with Plan B or Plsn C. Btw…not saying either TR or a Steele were bad coordinators…..but they were not the big name being rumored.

So this may take longer than expected. In my opinion… none of the names being thrown out there will be easy to land, other than Kiffin, who is so risky from a personality standpoint.

I think it is now apparent no one was "in place", even though I think Byrne and a very, very small number of people knew Saban was going to retire before yesterday's announcement.

I'm just not sure there is going to be much of a line for anyone wanting to be the guy immediately after Saban. If it were the 2nd or 3rd guy then yeah, they'd be busting the door down. But we may have to either get Kiffin (if he truly wants the job as bad as many think) or go waaaay down the list and get someone who we probably know will be replaced in two to three years.