The Bill O’Brien experiment at Nick Saban’s coaching rehab has been positive and negative.
Alabama is averaging 42.7 points per game on offense, but there have been several times where O’Brien has not fit what the Crimson Tide is now. After seeing what Lane Kiffin, Brian Daboll, Michael Locksley, and Steve Sarkisian brought, O’Brien was a step down as a play-caller. Alabama never had a game under Sarkisian where it scored less than 30 points. The situation happened twice under O’Brien versus LSU and Auburn. Alabama’s offense got shut out in the first quarter of both games, and it did not score until the fourth quarter against Auburn. Bryce Young is having a Heisman-caliber season, Brian Robinson is a 1,000-yard running back, and two 1,000-yard receivers – John Metchie and Jameson Williams – are on the Tide’s roster.
Despite this, the inconsistency in play-calling has bothered fans all season.
Related: Fans rate Bill O’Brien’s play-calling after 9 weeks
Nick Saban should amicably part ways with O’Brien after the year.
He can help The Crimson Tide win an SEC Championship and a national championship; however, the Alabama faithful will question Saban if O’Brien remains. He might be good with offensive scheming, but one must be a perfect fit for some collegiate programs. O’Brien does not fit the program, and people are starting to understand it. However, Saban should let O’Brien continue to coach the postseason.
He can do enough to get Alabama over Georgia and succeed in the College Football Playoff.
The main thing for Saban is to have O’Brien leave on good terms. He did not handle the 2016 situation with Kiffin properly, and it cost the Tide a national title. Kiffin had Jalen Hurts as the SEC Freshman of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year. Alabama scored under 30 points in one game versus Washington (24) in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl for the CFP semifinal game.
If Saban had held on to Kiffin, Hurts potentially does well in the national championship versus Clemson instead of amassing just 131 passing yards on 13 of 31 attempts (including three straight drives amounting in 27 total yards in the fourth quarter). Kiffin is having success as a head coach at Ole Miss, but he did not leave Alabama on the best terms. Saban has to handle this circumstance better with O’Brien. He has to look elsewhere for an offensive coordinator, but he needs to do it smoothly. O’Brien’s name is discussed for some high-profile head coaching vacancies, including LSU and Virginia Tech.
We will see how Saban goes about the maneuver with him.
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Stephen M. Smith is the managing editor and senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith.
