Joel Klatt stresses need for Alabama to make a quick hire to replace Nick Saban

The expectation since the retirement of Nick Saban is that Alabama’s coaching search won’t last too long. Joel Klatt is suggesting to them that they not let it drag out either considering what he sees as the next step that would follow down in Tuscaloosa.

Klatt stressed the importance of a swift, yet quality, hire for the Crimson Tide during his show following Saban’s announcement. With the transfer portal now re-opened for another month to their players, he says the program needs to instill confidence in their roster with a hire that will win them over. If not, they could be looking at a mass exodus out of their building due to the mounting uncertainty.

“Now we’ve got to look at, like, what’s going to need to happen at Alabama? What do they need? How quickly do they need to move?” asked Klatt. “Well, in this day and age, with players having the ability, once their coach moves, to also move? They need to move quickly.”

“‘Bama needs to hire somebody in first 24-38 hours. I don’t think that they can get in the 40-hour realm. I think you’re going to lose too many players. They’ve already lost the five-star wide receiver, who committed to them but didn’t sign his letter of intent, in Ryan Williams. He already decommitted,” Klatt explained. “You can’t allow that room to just fester with unknowns. Unknowns present a vacuum and, within a vacuum, outside noise gets in. This is what Saban is so great at – not allowing that outside noise in.”

Following Alabama’s loss in The Rose Bowl, we got a pretty general outline of who was staying and who was leaving the team whether through the portal or in the 2024 NFL Draft. However, with Saban’s decision, that clock has reset and, therefore, even more players could decide to leave.

That would give other programs plenty of prospects to poach. It’d also deplete the roster of the eventual new coach once they officially hire whoever that may be.

Those circumstances also trickle down to signees, commits, and future recruits who could reconsider their options with Saban calling it a career.

The clock started ticking in T-Town from the moment that this news came out on Wednesday. That means the pressure is on to name a successor before too many players start to think that they should potentially leave Alabama as well.

“This team – you really think there aren’t people, like, calling these players?” Klatt asked. “I think ‘Bama needs to work really quickly. Because of that, I think that it’s a very short list.”