Pete Thamel reveals how coaching turnover, transfer portal has impacted Alabama's roster

Not appearing in the SEC Championship and College Football Playoff last season paired with a number of different offseason changes has resulted in some people questioning how successful Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide will perform this season for the first time in a long time.

This offseason some of Alabama’s challenges are new and others are more familiar, and at SEC Media Days college football insider Pete Thamel broke down some of those tasks for the Crimson Tide.

“They have dealt with such relentless coaching turnover, and again, that’s been one of the most under appreciated things about Nick Saban is he’s done this in different iterations, with different coaching staffs, with different systems, and everybody is adapted to what his vision and what he has done,” Thamel said. “But that does take a toll when you are constantly losing coaches here and there and you are constantly turning over.”

Coaching turnover is not a new challenge for the Crimson Tide, as a successful season as a coordinator in Tuscaloosa typically leads to numerous job offers following the season. Alabama had to replace both their offensive and defensive coordinators this offseason, but Thamel believes the transfer portal has presented a new challenge for Saban and the Crimson Tide.

“I do think that combined with the portal where I think you have guys who might have stuck it out earlier now maybe ducking after their freshman year. ‘Hey, I’m a top 50 recruit, I’m going to go somewhere else and play.’ So I think it’s a little bit of a collision between those two things,” Thamel explained.

Every coach in the country wants to retain and develop their high school signees all the way up till their final year with the program, but the transfer portal has made that less of a reality in the college football landscape.

Saban has hung his hat on developing young players into championship and NFL-level talent, but the transfer portal has forced him to somewhat adapt and change that strategy at times.

“The thing I’m the most interested in this year is Nick Saban has preached the process right?” Thamel asked. “I mean he’s probably branded and written books about the process, it’s been part of it. Bringing in a quarterback in April is not a part of the process, like that’s different. Now Jahmyr Gibbs, again that wasn’t a part of the process either, that worked out for everybody last year.”

Gibbs joined the Crimson Tide last offseason and was a slam dunk, and Alabama fans are hoping that Notre Dame transfer quarterback Tyler Buchner can be the same this upcoming season for the offense.

If Alabama does want to stay on top of the college football hierarchy, Saban and the program will likely have to continue adjusting to numerous changes, and seeing how they adapt this season will surely be an intriguing watch.

“From what you’ve preached and what you’ve been about collides with the reality of they had a hole in that quarterback room and they needed to fill it. I think the collision of those two things is to me one of the most interesting aspects at Alabama this year,” Thamel concluded.