Quite frankly, I am beginning to have some questions about Saban's ability to assemble a first rate offensive staff here.
Last year we lost out on Stacy Searles as the OL coach, he was clearly Saban's first choice, and not only did he end up with a secondary choice, but he made that secondary choice a co-OC.
And Applewhite was clearly the fourth or fifth choice for OC (Fisher, Brohm, Clements all said 'no' before Applewhite got a call). And this year, I see a similar pattern developing.
It is, or should be, obvious that Saban had to rush last year to assemble what he could in a staff due to time pressures - needed people to recruit at a minimum, and not everyone he wanted was available (but Searles, Fisher, Brohm, Clements, and a few others were available but still said 'no'). But this year is different, but things appear the same.