What's Alabama Doing with Mike Groh?

It made news when a former offensive coordinator Mike Groh, son of Legendary Al Groh, and a former top flight college QB in his own right took a graduate assistants job at Alabama.

This is like a surgeon taking a job as an orderly, not so much in the work load or hours, but the pay grade and overall responsibilities.  

Groh can take the pay cut, because he's still receiving very good money from the University of Virginia for this coming year, and working under Saban can only enhance his resume for the future.  So you could see what Groh is getting out of the deal, but what is Alabama getting?

When I asked the Alabama coaching staff about the hire, they seemed pleased to a man. I got comments like, "We're getting a good coach with a strong background of developing talent in athletes." and "Mike didn't have the success he wanted at Virginia, but I don't think you point it all at him.  Given a little more talent they would have had a different outcome."

What no one said was, "Our first game's against his most hated adversary.  Nobody on our staff has studied more film and can help us more getting ready for Virginia Tech than Mike."

So I had to ask the obvious question in a lot of people's minds, "But didn't he lose against them the three years he was a coach at Virginia?"

I was told that a good coach learns more sometimes by losing than by winning.  When you lose you pick apart things to see why some things didn't work and how you could have or should have done it different.

Ok, so if he's going to help us, why isn't he mentioned yet at the official website for Alabama athletics?  No picture, no biography, enter his name in the search field and you get nothing.

And when you ask what specific duties he'll have or what position he'll work with you get vague answers like, we are going to plug him into a lot of places, but of course he'll be working with the offense.

And just what will happen next year when the Virginia money runs out?  Will he stay at Alabama for the peanut pay a graduate assistant gets?  I don't think so.  And we don't play Virginia Tech next year.

So is this a one year resume padding, help out with another big first game, story?

Who cares if it gets the results Nick Saban wanted.  A victory against a quality Virginia Tech.  What happens after that only time will tell.