Alabama football has a new coach on staff, but what does it mean for the Crimson Tide in restoring a dominant culture and winning national championships?
Ken Whisenhunt served in the National Football League as a coach for a long time, but now the 60-year-old is taking his style to Tuscaloosa (Ala.) to work with Nick Saban. He will be a “Special Assistant to the Head Coach,” which will require him to wear several hats within the program. As a special assistant, Whisenhunt will have his hands in offensive and special teams’ game-planning and breakdowns. He will sit in on meetings, chart different statistics and analytics, bounce ideas off coaches to create the best strategy against opponents, and help in landing the best high school recruits. Whisenhunt will also be involved in camps and clinics. He will have his hand in many things; however, does it mean Whisenhunt invokes the toughness culture back?
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He does provide that element to the Tide.
Each player wants to get to the next level, and Whisenhunt was an NFL coach — including a head coach — for several years.
He is going to give guys the truth in tough love about what they need to do to improve and excel. After watching Georgia win back-to-back College Football Playoff National Championships, Tide fans want their team to return to bullying the college game again. Alabama needs a mixture of old-school and new-school innovation to get back on top. Tommy Rees and Austin Armstrong have the innovation, but Kevin Steele and Whisenhunt are the old-school minds. Whisenhunt helped Penn State as an offensive analyst last season. He assisted the Nittany Lions to 35.8 points per game and an 11-2 record in the Big Ten.
If Whisenhunt can recruit well, he will be a nice addition to Saban’s staff.
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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.
