Alabama Assistant Coaches' Future on the Line Against LSU

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Even before the College Football Playoff committee placed both in the Top Four of this year’s initial rankings, there was already a lot on the line when the University of Alabama football team hosts LSU on Saturday.

It’s especially true of the coaching staffs and those who hope to someday become head coaches (or become head coaches again). Alabama has them in abundance, as Nick Saban’s coaching tree continues to grow.  

Four years ago, Jim McElwain was the offensive coordinator for Saban, and he's still riding the success of topping Florida in 2009. With Alabama on the rise again, he was lured away by Colorado State.

According to the USA Today database, McElwain’s initial contract at Florida is paying him a base salary of $3,983,359 this season. Meanwhile, Alabama’s current offensive coordinator, Lane Kiffin, is under contract for $680,000 this year and is due to make $714,000 in 2016.

There’s a growing feeling in Tuscaloosa that he may not be around to collect, just like this could be the final go-around for defensive coordinator Kirby Smart. 

It took only about a minute after Steve Spurrier stepped down at South Carolina for Smart’s name to be mentioned as a possible successor. After Frank Beamer announced his retirement from Virginia Tech last week, USA Today’s Dan Wolken reported that Smart was "very interested" in the opening.

Both jobs make sense for Smart, who for years as one of the highest-paid assistant coaches in college football—topped only by former Saban assistant Will Muschamp at Auburn this season—has been pulling recruits out of Georgia for the Crimson Tide.

Smart interviewed for the head coaching job at Auburn in 2012. His name was previously strongly connected to the searches at Ole Miss, Texas A&M and Southern Miss, but with the defense not matching its 2011-12 numbers the past couple of years, the prospective inquiries stopped.

Smart’s dream jobs are still Alabama and Georgia, but it’s believed that he’s now more open to other head-coaching openings in the region.

Opening	Outgoing	2015 Salary
Southern California	Steve Sarkisian	$4,250,000
South Carolina	Steve Spurrier	$4,028,600
Virginia Tech	Frank Beamer	$2,775,925
Minnesota	Jerry Kill	$2,500,000
Miami	Al Golden	$2,539,315
Maryland	Randy Edsall	$2,110,648
UCF	George O'Leary	$1,890,000
Illinois	Bill Cubit	$916,010
North Texas	Dan McCarney	$721,600
Hawaii	Norm Chow	$637,750

Meanwhile, offensive line coach Mario Cristobal’s name is obviously being mentioned in Miami. He played for the Hurricanes (1989-92), has served as an assistant for his alma mater and recruited the talent-rich area well when he was the head coach at Florida International.

One also has to wonder how long it is before Kiffin gets another head-coaching chance, either at another big-time program and maybe even with an NFL team. The former head coach for the Tennessee Volunteers and the Oakland Raiders had a 28-15 record at Southern California during the fallout from the Pete Carroll years that included NCAA penalties.

“Yeah, it’s very humbling,” Kiffin said last December prior to the Sugar Bowl. “In this profession it happens all the time. You can be really hot one minute and the next minute be unemployed. It’s just a reminder that you always got to keep trying to improve yourself, you always gotta keep growing and never be satisfied where you are.”

LM Otero/Associated Press

Rumors seem to always surround Kiffin even when there aren’t any coaching openings, and sure enough when the Tennessee Titans fired head coach Ken Whisenhunt on Tuesday, his name was one of those being talking about on social media as a potential replacement.

What those people may have forgotten was that in 2010, Tennessee Football Inc., the company that owns the Titans, sued Kiffin and Southern California for "maliciously" luring away assistant running backs coach Kennedy Pola a week before training camp opened.

It’s going to take a while for things to play out, but no one would be surprised if Saban’s staff was essentially raided, especially if Alabama makes a run at another national title.

The key, of course, is to keep it all from becoming a distraction, which is why in part that Saban only gives reporters access to his coordinators twice a year and the other assistants just once. He wants there to be a clear message and focus during the season. 

Name	Position	2015 Salary	Signed Through
Kirby Smart	Defensive coordinator	$1.5 million	2018
Lane Kiffin	Offensive coordinator	$680,000	2016
Mario Cristobal	Offensive line	$515,000	2017
Mel Tucker	Secondary	$500,000	2016
Bo Davis	Defensive line	$475,000	2017
Bobby Williams	Special teams/Tight ends	$440,840	2017
Tosh Lupoi	Linebackers	$425,000	2017
Scott Cochran	Strength/conditioning	$420,000	2017
Burton Burns	Running backs	$345,000	2017
Billy Napier	Wide recievers	$340,000	2017

When McElwain left, he was hired on Dec. 13, 2011, when Alabama was in the midst of a title run. He essentially did both jobs until the Crimson Tide played LSU in the BCS Championship Game on Jan. 9, but he flew back to Tuscaloosa on Dec. 23 for the start of the Crimson Tide’s practices.

“I never questioned his focus or loyalty in terms of what his job was and what he was doing,” Saban said. “I'm happy for our coaches to be recognized and have opportunities. When the time comes, I'll do everything I can to help them, and I think they all know that. But at the same time, their job and their responsibility right now is to stay focused on our team and what we're doing. I think they all understand that.

“How we finish will probably affect their opportunities a little bit.”

Saban’s been there himself, like when he went from being the defensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns to taking over the head-coaching job at Michigan State. The Browns were in the midst of a playoff push, and he helped Bill Belichick notch his first postseason win as a head coach, ironically against the New England Patriots.

“I took the job, but I totally focused on what we had to do,” Saban said. “We had the best defense in the NFL. We won a playoff game and lost in the second round.”

But what makes this upcoming offseason different is that the coaching carousel may spin more intently than we’ve ever seen before. There are already 10 jobs that are open, and a lot more coaches may soon be on the move. 

Maybe it’ll work out that none of Saban’s assistants will be hired away this time, but the more the Crimson Tide wins and the more jobs that open up, the less likely that’ll happen.

Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

Christopher Walsh is a lead SEC college football writer. Follow Christopher on Twitter @WritingWalsh.