Nick Saban has already forgotten Eric Wolford's name

Nick Saban has it all.

The Crimson Tide return a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, Bryce Young, and the best defensive player in college football, Will Anderson. A few wide receiver injuries away from a National Title in 2021, this season they will once again be the prohibitive favorites to win it all. There’s only one thing standing in-between Saban and his eighth National Championship: the offensive line.

Alabama returns only two returning starters. They also have a new offensive line coach the BBN knows quite well, Eric Wolford. The Youngstown native did not exactly leave Kentucky on good terms, but so far, it sounds like he’s impressed his new boss at Bama.

“I think that’s one of the biggest challenges, is the offensive line rebuild that we need to do,” Nick Saban said in the main room at SEC Media Days. “I’m excited about the coach that we have at that position. Coach Woodruff has done a really good job with the players and relationship building, fundamental progress.” 

Saban still hasn’t remembered Eric Wolford’s name? Ouch. That’s a tough one to recover from. At least his unit played well in the spring game, right? Not exactly.

“The offensive line looked terrible in the spring game,” a source told Freddie Maggard. “The OL could be the Achilles heel and cost Bama in the big game with comparable talent.”

Even though Nick Saban can’t remember Eric Wolford’s name, he is optimistic that newcomers will keep his Heisman safe in the pocket.

“We do have some new players that may contribute to that that weren’t there in the spring,” said Saban. “That’s something that we’ll have to sort of assess in fall camp.”

* Even though this was likely just a slip of the tongue from Saban, it’s much more entertaining to pretend that it takes a year for Saban to remember the names of all 72 of his new quality control assistants each year.