It is now to the point that a significant foundation of his crimson empire has been built by those on the rebound.
“We’re always looking for a better way,” Alabama’s coach said.
That success doesn’t seem to be ending anytime soon as Saban recently signed a three-year extension with the Crimson Tide to lead the program through the 2028 season.
Five former college head coaches have cycled through Alabama’s system over the last eight years, coming out on the other side second chances they were unlikely to have otherwise received.
“It was perfect,” said Kiffin of his three seasons as Alabama offensive coordinator .
“Locks” enters his third season at Maryland despite only having won eight games in his six-year head-coaching career.
There was a time when O’Brien would have immediately bounced back from his Houston Texans firing to another job in the NFL, likely as an offensive coordinator.
The same is true for new Alabama offensive line coach Doug Marrone, who joins the staff off a 1-15 season leading the Jacksonville Jaguars.
That’s part of the “why” — why fallen coaches, some of whom could have secured higher-profile, higher-paying jobs, went to T-Town for lesser positions.
Could O’Brien and Marrone still be in the NFL, coaching seasoned professionals and avoiding the added tasks and added hours that come with college coaching, such as recruiting? Absolutely.
Loosely defined, these are coaches who either come to their positions at Alabama overqualified and underpaid or receive opportunities they simply would not be given elsewhere.
Groh bounced from that GA spot to Louisville as a quarterbacks coach, returning to Alabama two years later as wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator.
At that time, I don’t think Coach was thinking about it like this, but then he saw it as a way to get an advantage.
I remember telling my wife, Ali, ‘If this was our first job in college football, we’d be ecstatic.’ It was priceless.
After a couple stops, including four year as Bama WR coach , Napier enters his fourth season as Louisiana’s head coach.
In fact, there have been 47 assistant coaches pass through Alabama since Saban took over in 2007, an average of more than three coaching changes per year.
“I’d love to have continuity because it makes my job a lot easier,” Saban said.
“I get fired at Clemson , the first phone call I got was from Coach Saban,” Steele said.
“He’s a very, very, very driven man, but he is not a person that takes advantage of people at all,” Steele said.
“I got to know beyond the straw hat, beyond the polo on the sidelines, beyond the press conferences,” Sarkisian said.
Locksley had just spent four years at Maryland trying to revive his career after a disastrous stay at New Mexico .
“It’s not normal for minority coaches to get second opportunities or be recycled, especially after not having success,” Locksley said.
After being let go at Maryland as an interim coach following Randy Edsall’s firing in 2015, Locksley immediately had offers to become a Power Five coordinator again.
“She said, ‘I’d take that over being a coordinator at a Power Five right now,'” Locksley recalled.
In Year 2 at Alabama, Locksley was named co-offensive coordinator with Brian Daboll; the Tide won a national championship.
Just look at Jones, who was basically run out of Knoxville, Tennessee, in 2017 only to remake himself as an analyst at Alabama the last three seasons.
“Everybody told me, ‘Butch it’s hard for you right now, but the longer this plays out, the better it’s going to be.
Jones eventually became Saban’s right-hand man as special assistant to the head coach in 2020.
“It’s not stealing information; it’s learning it,” said longtime Saban confidant Scott Pioli, a veteran NFL personnel man and current analyst for CBS Sports HQ.
The last meaningful attempt came in 2018 when the NCAA Council tabled a proposal to set a limit at 30 persons who could participate in on-campus recruiting.
Ahead of the 2021 season, Alabama’s directory lists 27 football staffers beyond the on-field coaching staff.
An analyst is considered a low-level staffer who is not allowed recruit or be on the sidelines but deeply mines information that is passed on to the coaching staff.
Pioli started as a pro personnel assistant under Belichick with the Cleveland Browns in 1992.
The 2013 season ended with a two-game losing streak, the first loss being the Kick Six game against Auburn.
Those seasons produced three straight SEC titles and three consecutive SEC Offensive Players of the Year at three different positions: Amari Cooper, Derrick Henry and Jalen Hurts.
A shot at USC ended with the epic firing on an airport tarmac once the Trojans arrived back from a 21-point loss at Arizona State in 2013.
Saban saw Kiffin still on the rise, and at his essence, a master of play calling who could install the spread at Alabama.
You try to stay away from the public eye because you feel like everyone is looking at you.
Alabama’s first season under Kiffin, the offense piled up almost 6,800 total yards going from 33rd to 18th nationally in that category.
The three straight SEC titles yelled stability and transformation despite Kiffin’s career arc having resembled that of a pro wrestler — flamboyant and adaptable.
Rebels quarterback Matt Corral led the SEC in passing during a season highlighted by a shootout loss to Kiffin’s old boss.
If Kiffin can develop just a bit more defense, watch out.
Except he was out of work in February 2009, a time when most jobs are filled.
The dismissal came from former Virginia AD Craig Littlepage, who oversaw Mike due to nepotism guidelines.
By the time Groh returned as receivers coach in 2011, he was tasked with helping rebuild the wideout room.
“When I came back in 2011, the receiver corps there were no names that weren’t recognizable unless you’re an Alabama fan,” Groh said.
You appreciate the opportunity to be there on the inside where I could observe and learn, soak it all in.
Shortly before he left to become offensive coordinator at Arizona State in 2017, Napier was able to land a 160-pound receiver from Amite City, Louisiana.
He left Alabama five years ago following a highly successful four-year run under Saban in which he helped recruit some of the program’s biggest names.
Nick Saban’s Coaching Rehab takes on patients of all shapes and sizes, even those who do not see those opportunities in the same light.