Nick Saban explains freedom given to Tommy Rees with Alabama's offensive system

Nick Saban has been through an offensive coordinator or two in his day. Bill O’Brien is the latest to leave, heading back to the NFL and working for the New England Patriots. Tommy Rees is next in line, coming to Alabama after a stint at his alma mater, Notre Dame.

You would think with new coaches joining the program, the system would be changing. Saban puts an emphasis on not switching things up. Results to this point have been positive too as the offense has not skipped a beat. Think of Alabama going from Jalen Hurts to Tua Tagovailoa to Mac Jones to Bryce Young.

Kevin Steele is back for another stint in Tuscaloosa too. Saban was asked what kind of freedom he will give to Steele and Rees in what’s going to be an important season for Alabama.

“I think that probably on offense, there is a little bit more latitude,” Saban said. “Even though we want to keep the same terminology, the same system in terms of how we call plays and formations — There is always room to implement new ideas and terms of things you do on offense. Not changing the system but maybe to change some of the plays that you run and some of the things that feature some of the players you have.

“I’ve always said you got to have a very diverse system that can take advantage of the players that you have. So, many some of the teams, you’re going to run the ball more and run play-action passes. Other teams, when you have a really good quarterback and good receivers, you’re going to throw it more. But the system doesn’t have to change to enhance the personnel in those circumstances. That’s what I never want to change.”

Everything for Saban is based on the personnel available to the offensive coordinator. Alabama is looking to go back to ground and pound, relying on the offensive line to get a push. The overall system will be the same but Rees will have the opportunity to call different plays.

And Saban is happy with how the new offensive coordinator has done so far. Alabama is going to run the ball a ton but Rees has brought his own wrinkles into the scheme. The quarterback situation plays a factor too, even if Saban believes the Crimson Tide will be good there this season.

“I think Tommy has done a really, really good job of taking our system, implementing some of his ideas into it. The running game has improved, in my opinion. Our ability to run the ball different ways. The play action plays that go with it. All of those are better… We have a good passing game. We have to see how the players we have can implement those things.”