EDIT: This main point of this post is not about Kirby Smart, but rather about the coaching turnover Bama seems to have yearly now and about how Saban will approach that.
I think it's pretty obvious that what Kirby has built in Athens is/will be a thorn in Saban's side for years to come. But I think his success has also hurt Saban in a less obvious way and it was evident in the national championship game.
Saban will have to replace his Offensive Coordinator for the fourth season in a row (Lane Kiffin, Brian Daboll, and now Mike Locksley), and has had to replace Defensive Coordinators for three of the last four years going into this season (Kirby Smart, Jeremy Pruitt, and Tosh Lupoi). And every time a coordinator leaves a substantial amount of their staff usually leaves with them.
Out of the names listed above, Kirby Smart's loss had the biggest impact because of the amount of experience he had with the program and because of how much of the defensive staff he took with him. But Kirby's success at UGA (IMO) continues to hurt Bama now even more than his original departure. It seems like the coaching attrition Saban has had to deal with over the years has drastically accelerated in the past three years directly coinciding with Kirby Smart's success at UGA.
QUESTION: Will Saban attempt to make any cultural changes around the program to promote the retention of staff after the outcome of this national championship game? Or do you think that Saban will stick to his business-like approach to coaches and just accept the coaching turnover each year?
I think it's pretty obvious that what Kirby has built in Athens is/will be a thorn in Saban's side for years to come. But I think his success has also hurt Saban in a less obvious way and it was evident in the national championship game.
Saban will have to replace his Offensive Coordinator for the fourth season in a row (Lane Kiffin, Brian Daboll, and now Mike Locksley), and has had to replace Defensive Coordinators for three of the last four years going into this season (Kirby Smart, Jeremy Pruitt, and Tosh Lupoi). And every time a coordinator leaves a substantial amount of their staff usually leaves with them.
Out of the names listed above, Kirby Smart's loss had the biggest impact because of the amount of experience he had with the program and because of how much of the defensive staff he took with him. But Kirby's success at UGA (IMO) continues to hurt Bama now even more than his original departure. It seems like the coaching attrition Saban has had to deal with over the years has drastically accelerated in the past three years directly coinciding with Kirby Smart's success at UGA.
QUESTION: Will Saban attempt to make any cultural changes around the program to promote the retention of staff after the outcome of this national championship game? Or do you think that Saban will stick to his business-like approach to coaches and just accept the coaching turnover each year?
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