Let's have a little fun... Strictly my opinion here these..... but of the more "talked about" targets mentioned, here's how I'd group them...
I'll start by saying, the Grand Slam category are guys that are pretty much out of reach right now for various reasons.
Grand Slam
Kirby Smart- A mini-Saban that has built UGA into Bama 2.0. His albatross? Nick Saban himself, who just removed himself from the obstacle course. Huge upside with Smart, really no downside. Get the premiere college coach, who has Bama experience, and piss off UGA fans too? Only con would be whispers of how much longer he too will keep grinding away at the pace he's going. Would be amazing though.
DeMeco Ryans- Football IQ is in the top percentile of football coaches. He's the hottest name in coaching, at any level (about to win the NFL COTY award in his first season with the Texans). He's got Bama blood in him and The University means a lot to him. He would kill it in recruiting... both with his personality and his talent evals. He'd be the perfect fit and the dream hire. Only downside is no college coaching experience, but I'd have zero concerns there with him.
Homerun
Dan Lanning- Coached under both Saban and Smart. Spent time at Alabama, would have a good feel for the expectations. Elite recruiter and would bring an energy that I'm not sure Alabama has ever seen from the head football coach. Cons... still green behind the ears and would be learning on the job for a while in the toughest football conference. Also, his brashness wouldn't be for everyone...
Kalen DeBoer- A decent enough sample size to say the guy is a winner. He knows how to gameplan and adjust. Really good offensive mind that would translate to points. He's loyal to his staff, but his staff is also really well thought of and they've been loyal to him too. Cons would be possible culture shock and he's unfamiliar with the pressures of Alabama and the SEC in general. He'd have to work hard to develop relationships for recruiting, but that would come in time and isn't as necessary as it used to be anyway. Lastly, a strong commitment would have to be made on defense for him to sustain success.
Triple
Steve Sarkisian- A good amount of HC experience and also Bama experience. Great offensive mind and would bring a strong staff. Would have no issues recruiting and Saban left everything in place for him to compete from day 1. Would be a very smooth transition. His failures are linked to personal demons which seem to be in the rear view. And while he's handled the pressure in Austin fairly well, the pressure at Alabama is... different. Could he withstand it? If he could thread the needle, it could prove to be a great hire.
Double
Mike Norvell- I would have had him as a triple 6 weeks ago, but full transparency here... how he handled the whole FSU getting left out thing threw some water on that. Honestly, that's probably not fair of me since he was just sticking up for his team, but it showed a shortage in the self-awareness department, which I deduct points for. I guess we will call it a ground rule double. But, he's a good coach. Understands the importance of a strong defense and a good offense. He's a very young coach, but also holds experience all over the US map... he can and would recruit well. I think he'd develop well. Overall, I think he'd be a decent fit, but a bigger gamble than those listed above.
Single
Lane Kiffin- Most will disagree with this and that's fine. First the good... Elite play caller and has been at Bama and would jump all over the job. Ok, that's about it for the good. Flip side of things, he burned a lot of bridges at Alabama. He acts like a child at times. His social media antics would do him zero favors unless he was able to put up Saban type winning seasons, which he wouldn't, because he doesn't have the work ethic or ability to stay on track long enough to do so. He'd be a super nova... burn bright for a couple of years then explode and flame out, leaving Bama in a terrible situation for the next guy.
Dabo Swinney- Hard to believe a coach with his success would be considered a single. I actually think more highly of him than that, but in terms of a fit at Alabama, he's nothing more than a drag bunt. He'd immediately have a quarter of the fan base irate before he finished his opening press conference. His reputation is what it is at this point. And while he'd have a decent understanding of the Bama culture, his issue would be surrounding himself with too many Bama people and forming a vacuum. Now that think about it, even after the bunt, he'd probably get picked off first.
Hit By Pitch
James Franklin- Not just hit by pitch, but hit right in the face with a Verlander 4 seamer. I don't think things could ever get so bad that we ended up with this clown, I just wanted it noted that he sucks.
Oh what's that? A pinch hitter?
Matt Rhule- Wait a minute! Matt Rhule has grabbed a bat! Anyone that has paid much attention to my postings here in the last 3 or 4 years knows what I think of Rhule. He's a really good coach, good evaluator, good recruiter, good gameday coach, and would be a great face for the program. Also? In my scorebook, he'd be a grand slam. And unlike the other 2 listed at the top, he would be much more attainable right now. It would be off the media's radar for sure, but in my view, it would be a 460 foot bases clearing blast to dead center.
I'll start by saying, the Grand Slam category are guys that are pretty much out of reach right now for various reasons.
Grand Slam
Kirby Smart- A mini-Saban that has built UGA into Bama 2.0. His albatross? Nick Saban himself, who just removed himself from the obstacle course. Huge upside with Smart, really no downside. Get the premiere college coach, who has Bama experience, and piss off UGA fans too? Only con would be whispers of how much longer he too will keep grinding away at the pace he's going. Would be amazing though.
DeMeco Ryans- Football IQ is in the top percentile of football coaches. He's the hottest name in coaching, at any level (about to win the NFL COTY award in his first season with the Texans). He's got Bama blood in him and The University means a lot to him. He would kill it in recruiting... both with his personality and his talent evals. He'd be the perfect fit and the dream hire. Only downside is no college coaching experience, but I'd have zero concerns there with him.
Homerun
Dan Lanning- Coached under both Saban and Smart. Spent time at Alabama, would have a good feel for the expectations. Elite recruiter and would bring an energy that I'm not sure Alabama has ever seen from the head football coach. Cons... still green behind the ears and would be learning on the job for a while in the toughest football conference. Also, his brashness wouldn't be for everyone...
Kalen DeBoer- A decent enough sample size to say the guy is a winner. He knows how to gameplan and adjust. Really good offensive mind that would translate to points. He's loyal to his staff, but his staff is also really well thought of and they've been loyal to him too. Cons would be possible culture shock and he's unfamiliar with the pressures of Alabama and the SEC in general. He'd have to work hard to develop relationships for recruiting, but that would come in time and isn't as necessary as it used to be anyway. Lastly, a strong commitment would have to be made on defense for him to sustain success.
Triple
Steve Sarkisian- A good amount of HC experience and also Bama experience. Great offensive mind and would bring a strong staff. Would have no issues recruiting and Saban left everything in place for him to compete from day 1. Would be a very smooth transition. His failures are linked to personal demons which seem to be in the rear view. And while he's handled the pressure in Austin fairly well, the pressure at Alabama is... different. Could he withstand it? If he could thread the needle, it could prove to be a great hire.
Double
Mike Norvell- I would have had him as a triple 6 weeks ago, but full transparency here... how he handled the whole FSU getting left out thing threw some water on that. Honestly, that's probably not fair of me since he was just sticking up for his team, but it showed a shortage in the self-awareness department, which I deduct points for. I guess we will call it a ground rule double. But, he's a good coach. Understands the importance of a strong defense and a good offense. He's a very young coach, but also holds experience all over the US map... he can and would recruit well. I think he'd develop well. Overall, I think he'd be a decent fit, but a bigger gamble than those listed above.
Single
Lane Kiffin- Most will disagree with this and that's fine. First the good... Elite play caller and has been at Bama and would jump all over the job. Ok, that's about it for the good. Flip side of things, he burned a lot of bridges at Alabama. He acts like a child at times. His social media antics would do him zero favors unless he was able to put up Saban type winning seasons, which he wouldn't, because he doesn't have the work ethic or ability to stay on track long enough to do so. He'd be a super nova... burn bright for a couple of years then explode and flame out, leaving Bama in a terrible situation for the next guy.
Dabo Swinney- Hard to believe a coach with his success would be considered a single. I actually think more highly of him than that, but in terms of a fit at Alabama, he's nothing more than a drag bunt. He'd immediately have a quarter of the fan base irate before he finished his opening press conference. His reputation is what it is at this point. And while he'd have a decent understanding of the Bama culture, his issue would be surrounding himself with too many Bama people and forming a vacuum. Now that think about it, even after the bunt, he'd probably get picked off first.
Hit By Pitch
James Franklin- Not just hit by pitch, but hit right in the face with a Verlander 4 seamer. I don't think things could ever get so bad that we ended up with this clown, I just wanted it noted that he sucks.
Oh what's that? A pinch hitter?
Matt Rhule- Wait a minute! Matt Rhule has grabbed a bat! Anyone that has paid much attention to my postings here in the last 3 or 4 years knows what I think of Rhule. He's a really good coach, good evaluator, good recruiter, good gameday coach, and would be a great face for the program. Also? In my scorebook, he'd be a grand slam. And unlike the other 2 listed at the top, he would be much more attainable right now. It would be off the media's radar for sure, but in my view, it would be a 460 foot bases clearing blast to dead center.
