Best Options for Head Coach of Alabama After Nick Saban's Retirement
The college football universe tilted on its axis Wednesday afternoon with the shocking news that longtime Alabama head football coach Nick Saban was retiring.
The 72-year-old is arguably the greatest college football head coach of all time, winning seven national titles throughout his career (including the one at LSU and six during his 17-year reign in Tuscaloosa), amassing a 292-71-1 in 28 seasons and capturing 12 conference titles.
So the biggest question now becomes: Where does the nation's top powerhouse of the past two decades turn from here?
This is without question the most high-profile job in college football in years, and the candidate list should be as strong as any. Alabama football is big business, so what does that mean for who's next up with the Tide? Here are some candidates.
Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss Head Coach
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Part of Nick Saban's career at Alabama has been defined by shrugging off past issues, giving very good coaches another chance and leading the Great Coaching Reclamation Project in Tuscaloosa.
A couple of big names on this list are products of that, and one of them is Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin.
Despite some missteps throughout his young coaching career that included head coaching stops with the Oakland Raiders, Tennessee Volunteers and USC Trojans (after he got his start as an assistant under Pete Carroll at USC), the brash Kiffin is a brilliant offensive mind.
Saban saw that and brought him to Tuscaloosa from 2014 to '16 as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. He was a terrific play-caller for the Tide, earning a finalist for the Broyles Award, which goes to the nation's top assistant coach, in 2014.
From there, he took a head coaching job at Florida Atlantic and moved on to Ole Miss, where he has turned the Rebels into an SEC West force. They have played in two New Year's Six bowls in his four years in Oxford, beating Penn State this year.
Kiffin's innovative offensive mind, his recruiting prowess and his ability to play the transfer portal to perfection are feathers in his cap that make him a strong option to replace Saban.
Is this why he didn't take the Auburn job last year? Did Kiffin see this on the horizon and start lobbying for this gig? It will be interesting to see if it is an option for him.
Steve Sarkisian, Texas Head Coach
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Two years after Kiffin left Alabama, Steve Sarkisian was hired as the Tide's offensive coordinator.
Now, Sark is the head coach at Texas, and with the Longhorns moving to the SEC next year and so many resources available in Austin, this would be a bit of a lateral move.
Still, Saban gave him his second chance in Tuscaloosa, and you have to wonder if Sark would consider going back there. You have to think there would be some sort of a bidding war if Alabama wanted to go that direction. After all, remember all the Saban-to-Texas rumors year after year several seasons ago?
Sark is yet another exceptional offensive mind who spent time alongside Lane Kiffin on those great USC Trojans teams under Pete Carroll.
With the recruiting pipeline Texas has and so many options in the transfer portal, it's hard to envision Sark going to Alabama. But he is well-regarded in Tuscaloosa, and he did a fantastic job as coordinator when he was there.
Sitting on the recruiting hotbed that is the Lone Star State and getting the clout that comes with being an SEC program could help the '23 College Football Playoff participant continue down the path to juggernaut status. But the connection with the Tide is there.
Dabo Swinney, Clemson Head Coach
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Mama called once, as Alabama legend Paul "Bear" Bryant liked to say, and he came home to coach the Alabama Crimson Tide.
Would Dabo Swinney do the same?
At this juncture, it's fair to ask if Swinney would even be coveted by his alma mater after a five-year drought during which the Tigers have failed to win a national championship.
Swinney has built his own mini kingdom at Clemson where he won national championships in 2016 and 2018 with Deshaun Watson and Trevor Lawrence under center, and the Tigers also have made it to six College Football Playoffs. But with the new innovations of the game, has it passed Swinney by?
Currently, the Tigers are the only Top 25 program without a transfer portal commitment, and Swinney's stubbornness to adapt to that new way of thinking perhaps has his program a step behind. He still recruits top 15 classes seemingly every year, but would that be enough in the rugged SEC?
Swinney was a walk-on at Alabama, and early in his career he mentioned time and time again just how crimson ran through his blood. But he has built his own powerhouse program at Clemson, and, quite frankly, it's not currently on the level where anybody there wants it to be.
That fact has perhaps pushed Swinney further down the list, but it's not like he has forgotten how to coach.
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DeMeco Ryans, Houston Texans Head Coach
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Another "favorite son" of the Yellowhammer State who would be a potential grand-slam hire in Tuscaloosa is former Crimson Tide linebacker DeMeco Ryans, who has been a revelation in his one season as the head coach of the Houston Texans.
With C.J. Stroud playing quarterback, the franchise was the surprise of the NFL, making it to the playoffs, where they will take on the Cleveland Browns on Saturday.
Would it be a major gamble to hire the former Alabama linebacker and former SEC Defensive Player of the Year who played from 2002 to '05 in Tuscaloosa? Sure, it would be. He has just one season of head coaching experience and has zero recruiting experience.
It seems Ryans has cast his lot in the pros, and there's nothing wrong with that. He has become one of the top up-and-comers in the league after a great playing career and a quality tenure as an assistant coach.
The 39-year-old is a native of Bessemer, Alabama, outside of Birmingham, and he is a Crimson Tide legend. He would need to surround himself with some dynamic recruiters who have done it before, but there's no reason Ryans wouldn't be a success.
His is the type of contagious personality that recruits would gravitate toward, and there is already a great structure in place for Ryans to succeed. This may be an outside-the-box pick, and Alabama may look for somebody with more of a recruiting pedigree, but there is a lot to love about Ryans.
James Franklin, Penn State Head Coach
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Back when James Franklin was the head coach of Vanderbilt from 2011 to '13, he took a woebegone SEC program and turned it into a respectable team that could recruit, beat rivals and pile up enough wins to be bowl-eligible.
Anybody who is familiar with what the Commodores are facing in the SEC knows that essentially was working magic.
While he has done some great things rebuilding Penn State since taking over for Bill O'Brien and the Nittany Lions back in 2014, he hasn't consistently competed with Michigan and Ohio State in the Big Ten.
Franklin is still a recruiting dynamo, piecing together stellar classes that rank in the top 15, and he consistently wins nine-plus games.
But is that enough? Would that translate if he headed back down south to Tuscaloosa where his coaching acumen and keen recruiting pedigree could be matched with a support system in place to help him take the next step forward?
There was a point in time when Franklin seemed like a hot up-and-comer who would merit consideration for the top college coaching jobs in the country. But his inability to break through against the Wolverines and Buckeyes calls into question whether he's truly an elite coach.
You know that's what Alabama is going to go after—and is he still looked at in that light?
Kalen DeBoer, Washington Huskies Head Coach
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Coming off a national runner-up finish, few coaches have the current clout that Washington second-year head coach Kalen DeBoer has.
But is he the right fit at Alabama?
You have to include him on any list just because of how hot his name is. Also, he is a terrific offensive play-caller who had success as an offensive coordinator at Fresno State and Indiana before taking over as Fresno's head coach and leading that team to success.
He immediately nabbed Michael Penix Jr. from the transfer portal upon being hired by the Huskies before the '22 season and proceeded to win 11 games in the Pac-12, essentially coming from nowhere. Then he parlayed that success in a big way.
This season, the Huskies were an offensive juggernaut, navigating their way through a tougher-than-normal Pac-12 in its final season as we know it to go undefeated before falling to Michigan in Monday's national championship game.
Now, the Huskies are on to the Big Ten, and you have to wonder how the lack of a recruiting footprint in Seattle will affect DeBoer's commitment to staying long-term.
But with no real ties to the Southeast and no real recruiting acumen in that area, it's hard to envision him being a realistic Alabama candidate for any other reason besides, "The man can flat-out coach."
Is that enough in today's SEC, especially with Texas and Oklahoma coming in? There's no question DeBoer is a winner, but the question is whether he has proved enough on the recruiting trail to be considered.
Mike Norvell, Florida State Head Coach
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Many pundits and fans around the country believe the Florida State Seminoles got a raw deal this year after going undefeated in the regular season and getting shut out of the College Football Playoff.
In an expanded playoff scenario, obviously that wouldn't happen in the future. But it's worth asking if the ACC has even near the same clout as the SEC and Big Ten anymore. Seminoles coach Mike Norvell has rebuilt a stellar program in Tallahassee, but is this the pinnacle of his coaching journey?
If Alabama came calling, you'd have to think he would listen.
While it took him a few years to get things moving in the right direction with the 'Noles, Norvell has been an elite recruiter of the transfer portal the past couple of seasons, building a title contender that way.
Florida State has suffered some major high school recruiting decommitments (like Travis Hunter flipping to Jackson State a couple of years ago and KJ Bolden heading to Georgia this year), but Norvell has proved he can lure top-tier talent. The 'Noles still have the nation's 10th-rated class this year.
After putting out explosive offenses as the head coach at Memphis, Norvell developed Jordan Travis at FSU, and that program is now off and running. He has no real ties to the Tide, but that likely doesn't matter. He has proved he can navigate today's college football world.
That may be enough to garner a look.
Jamey Chadwell, Liberty Head Coach
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Alabama likely would have to get a lot of "no's" to make its way down to this tier of a list, but if the Tide are going a mid-major route, there may not be a better option than Liberty's Jamey Chadwell.
Of course, you have to believe the Crimson Tide coaching job would merit an elite candidate, but coaching searches—especially at this juncture of the season after the early signing period and the transfer window—don't always work out the way you think.
Remember Alabama only finalized with Nick Saban after Rich Rodriguez turned it down.
Chadwell is a young-ish coach (47 years old) who built no-name Coastal Carolina into a terrific mid-major program that stole everybody's attention and hearts during the COVID-shortened 2020 season.
After continuing to build on that momentum, he moved on to Liberty to replace Hugh Freeze this year, and the Flames enjoyed an undefeated regular season before running into a more talented buzzsaw of an Oregon team in the Fiesta Bowl.
With Kaidon Salter returning to Liberty next year, the program again will be a Group of Five monster, but Chadwell would crawl to Tuscaloosa to have an opportunity to coach at the nation's best program and have an opportunity to win a national championship every year.
Is this a long shot? Sure, it is. But you never know when searches will see candidate after candidate fall off.
Bill O'Brien, Offensive Coordinator/QBs Coach New England Patriots
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Another former Nick Saban assistant worth mentioning is Bill O'Brien.
With Bill Belichick's future uncertain with the New England Patriots, of course that puts the tenure of offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach O'Brien in jeopardy. Even if Belichick remains with the Pats, you've got to think O'Brien would love a shot to coach the Tide.
He is a longtime NFL assistant who helped navigate Penn State through the tumultuous post-Joe Paterno era with dignity and grace.
From there, he was the head coach of the Houston Texans from 2014 to '20 and had some quality seasons in the NFL before ultimately getting fired. It didn't take him long to get snatched up by Saban, where he was Alabama's offensive coordinator in the 2021 and 2022 seasons.
Several Tide fans grumbled about the O'Brien offenses' lack of balance during his two years, but they had been used to the exceptional units of Steve Sarkisian and Lane Kiffin.
During Sarkisian's last season, the Crimson Tide averaged over 540 yards per game and scored an average of 48.5 points per game. Under O'Brien in 2022, the Tide finished 11th in college football in yards per game with 477.2 and fourth in points at 41.1.
He became the first offensive coordinator to serve under Saban for more than a year without winning a national title, so he may not be as highly regarded as some of the others on this list.
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