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Alabama football: Why Nick Sheridan as OC elevates recruiting, experts weigh in
The Crimson Tide has a coordinator with serious 'recruiting chops.'
247sports.com
Alabama is expected to promote tight ends coach Nick Sheridan to offensive coordinator, Matt Zenitz reports. He replaces Ryan Grubb, who left to join the Seattle Seahawks over the weekend and should relate well with future recruits, particularly at quarterback, according to director of scouting Andrew Ivins.
"Sheridan is a younger guy (35), but he's already pretty well-traveled," Ivins said. "He's actually one of the main reasons why Michael Penix Jr. ended up at Indiana and then Washington, as he first made a connection with the Sunshine State native when he was a graduate assistant at Tennessee. He didn't really have a ton of huge recruiting wins at Washington, but he was involved in some notable quarterbacks during his time with the Hoosiers."
Sheridan landed a commitment from four-star quarterback Donaven McCulley at Indiana. He later transitioned to wide receiver with the Hoosiers. He also got a pledge from three-star Josh Hoover, who decommitted from Indiana and played 10 games for TCU this past season.
"DeBoer is going to have a big say in which arms they target, but Sheridan should be a guy that top signal callers can relate with, given his background," Ivins said.
National recruiting editor Brandon Huffman said promoting Sheridan means Alabama and DeBoer get much-needed continuity on the new staff and get a guy with talent for recruiting tight ends on top of quarterbacks.
"Sheridan's move to offensive coordinator means a couple of things," Huffman said. "Finally, there's some continuity on Kalen DeBoer's staff at Tuscaloosa and a coordinator who has recruiting chops. He was key in tight end recruiting at Washington, namely Decker DeGraaf in the 2024 class. He also did a great job recruiting out of the portal at tight end."
Sheridan has recruiting ties to the South, West and Midwest from his multiple coaching stops and had a bigger hand in getting Penix to Indiana than DeBoer, according to Huffman.
"Sheridan is the son of a coach, has spent time in the SEC before at Tennessee, and has ties now to the South, the West and the Midwest," Huffman said. "He was a significant factor in Penix coming to Washington from Indiana. He started recruiting him at Tennessee when he was a grad assistant and finished the job at Indiana. He coached him as an offensive coordinator Penix's final two years in Bloomington, and he, more so than DeBoer, was crucial in his arrival."
Sheridan started his coaching career at Sheridan (Mich.) High School in 2010 and entered the Power Five ranks as a grad assistant at Tennessee from 2014-16. Indiana hired him as quarterbacks coach in 2017 and he was promoted to offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2020 when Kalen DeBoer left for Fresno State. He spent the last two seasons as Washington's tight ends coach.
