Nick Saban discusses his philosophy on hiring former head coaches

Nick Saban has developed a liking for bringing former head coaches to the Alabama Crimson Tide. In recent years, Alabama has turned into a place where coaches looking for a fresh start could find it.

As part of the Crimson Tide’s media day, Saban explained his philosophy while speaking to reporters virtually.

“I think that one of the first sort of steps in us being a team is that everybody has to buy into the principles and values of the team and the level of commitment and the standard that we want to try to achieve. So everybody has to buy in and make a commitment to those things,” said Saban, per 247Sports. 

“When I said earlier, ‘coaches and players alike,’ that’s exactly what I mean. So far that’s not been a problem. Those coaches have worked out very, very well. They’ve worked hard to try to do things the way we do them at ‘Bama.” 

I wouldn’t think that any players really recognize anything different at least from a mindset of how we try to do things, how we want to do things, how we try to hold people accountable to try to do things the right way. And how they’ve tried to work hard to implement that.”

Over the years, Saban has helped coaches like Steve Sarkisian, Lane Kiffin, Kyle Flood, Butch Jones and Charlie Strong take some time to rebuild their reputation. In the process, it helped coaches like Sarkisian and Kiffin land new gigs at big time programs. 

Mike Locksley, former Alabama assistant and current head coach of the Maryland Terrapins, deemed the philosophy as “the Nick Saban witness protection program.” Evidently, Locksley is a perfect example of the philosophy, as he parlayed his time at Alabama into a head coaching gig in the Big Ten.

Nick Saban on Bill O’Brien 

Last season, Bill O’Brien was unceremoniously let-go from his gig with the Houston Texans. Earlier this January, Saban named him his new offensive coordinator.

“I think Bill’s done a really good job. First off, he’s a good teacher. And I think when you’re a good coach, you’re a good coach all the time. Whether we’re in camp with seventh- and eighth-grade kids playing quarterback or defensive back or whatever it is, you’re trying to coach those guys to be better just like you would our own players. I see that in everything that he’s done since he’s been here,” said Saban, per 247Sports. 

“I think the players have responded well to the coaches on offense. So I think there’s nothing but positives. Now, we haven’t been through a game yet together. And I think all these things are sort of a work in progress as you go, as they find out what your expectation is and then how they respond to it. But so far, they’ve responded in a positive way to each and everything we’ve asked them to do.”

So far, it seems Saban is encouraged by his new offensive coordinator. It should be no surprise that O’Brien is taking to coaching college football again, as he won the Paul “Bear” Bryant Award for the nation’s top coach in 2012, while coaching at Penn State.

Time will tell if O’Brien can parlay his time at Alabama into another head coaching gig, but history is on his side.

Image courtesy of Wesley Hitt / Contributor via Getty Images