Nick Saban will enter his 17th season next fall Alabama football’s head coach with two new coordinators.
Bill O’Brien and Pete Golding are gone, but Saban replaced them with Tommy Rees and Kevin Steele. Rees, 30, comes over from Notre Dame as an offensive coordinator. Steele, 64, is reunited with Saban as the defensive coordinator. After two seasons of not winning a national championship, Saban and Crimson Tide fans are hopeful this duo of coordinators gets the Tide back on top.
RELATED: Former Alabama LB Christian Miller on Kevin Steele hire: “He is going to have us playing physical, fast, and aggressive.”
Jamie Hale, a sports anchor and reporter for ABC 33/40 in Birmingham, Ala., captured a video of Saban detailing his process of hiring coordinators for the Crimson Tide. The 71-year-old won six national championships in Tuscaloosa with several different styles at both coordinator spots.
Coach Nick Saban tonight on the process of finding & hiring the right staff members. @abc3340 pic.twitter.com/vTpQo2dAcB
— Jamie Hale (@JamieHaleSports) February 8, 2023
“It is challenging,” Saban said about finding coordinators. “It takes time. You have to interview a lot of people, and you gotta make sure they are the right fit. New energy and new ideas can come with new people. We love continuity, but you got to bring people in that will bring new energy and new ideas. They also need to be able to complement what we do and help our players develop positively.”
Rees looks to take Alabama’s offense to the 2015 season.
He wants to establish a power running game, use different personnel packages, take deep shots in the play-action scheme, and return the Tide to sustaining drives. Steele is looking forward to having Alabama’s defense play fast, physical, and aggressive.
Click here to follow the Bama Elite Podcast
*Get the BEST Alabama football insider information, message board access, and recruiting coverage today! SIGN UP HERE to unlock our subscriber-only content!*
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.
