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In 1999, Nick Saban wanted a young Brian Daboll to follow him from Michigan State to LSU.
It didn't happen.
"At the time, Brian's new fiancee didn't really want to go to LSU, Louisiana, so Brian more or less said, 'Well, I really can't get down there,'" said Jerry Smith, Daboll's high school coach.
"Well, what do you want to do?" Saban asked.
"I'd like to get to the NFL," Daboll responded.
So Saban called New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick, his former boss, and vouched for Daboll, who ended up getting a job as a Patriots defensive assistant.
Eighteen years later, the 41-year old Daboll is back with Saban, taking over as Alabama's offensive coordinator after winning a fifth Super Bowl with the Patriots.
"It's come full circle," Smith said.
***
Before getting into coaching, Daboll was an aggressive, hard-hitting defensive back and, according to Smith, an expert of the famed "Jack Tatum hook."
Several years ago, Smith visited Daboll in New England, back when Daboll was helping with the team's defensive backs.
Inside the Patriots' locker room, Daboll introduced Smith to star safety Lawyer Milloy and other New England defensive backs. Smith remembers one of the defensive backs jokingly asking him, "Was he the man in high school?"
"They were probably expecting me to say no," Smith said. "But I said, 'You know what? Yes, he was. In two years, we only lost one game, and it was the game he missed. And if he wouldn't have missed it, we would have won the game.' They were kind of surprised."
Get to know new Alabama offensive coordinator Brian Daboll.
Daboll's playing career ended when he suffered a neck injury in 1995 while at the University of Rochester.
Informed by doctors that another bad hit could leave him paralyzed, Daboll stopped playing and became a player-coach.
"A lot of kids, when an injury like that happens, you sort of lose them, but he stuck around and was like an assistant coach for us and helped out," Daboll's college defensive coordinator, Chris Battaglia, said.
Daboll got his first real coaching job as a restricted earnings coach at William & Mary in 1997 before landing at Michigan State with Saban with the help of a high school classmate well known in the football coaching world.
***
Some high schools are known for producing a lot of NFL players. St. Francis in New York produces NFL coaches and NFL executives.
Daboll went to high school with Los Angeles Rams general manager Tom Telesco, Jacksonville Jaguars general manager Dave Caldwell, former Indianapolis Colts GM Chris Polian and former Nevada head coach and current Notre Dame special teams coach Brian Polian.
It was Brian Polian who first connected Daboll and Saban.
After a year as a graduate assistant at Michigan State under Saban, Polian landed a job as an assistant coach at Buffalo. Knowing Saban would need a new GA, Polian recommended Daboll.
After two years as a Michigan State GA, Saban made the call to Belichick, though Daboll wasn't hired until going through a challenging interview process.
Even for lower level positions, potential New England hires had to interview with the entire staff, including Belichick. Interviewing for lower level positions with most other teams isn't anywhere near as extensive.
Locksley was promoted in January after helping Alabama as an offensive analyst last year
"Brian, especially for just coming out of college, was impressive from the start -- the amount of research he had done on us and the level of preparation that he had really stood out," said former Patriots assistant Eric Mangini, who has been the head coach for the Cleveland Browns and New York Jets. "It was very impressive, so we hired him."
After two years helping Mangini with the secondary, Daboll was New England's wide receivers coach from 2002 to 2006. Mangini was then hired to coach the Jets and took Daboll with him as his quarterbacks coach. Two years later, Daboll landed the first of his three NFL offensive coordinator jobs after the Browns hired Mangini as their head coach in 2009.
"One of his greatest assets is understanding what the defense is doing," Mangini said. "And I'm not saying that coaches who haven't worked on the other side of the ball have just a superficial level of understanding, but it's different when you've taught it. And he does a great job, where it wasn't just teaching what we were doing offensively, but it's helping the guys truly understand what the defense was doing and why the plays we were using and the schemes we were using, why they'd work, how they'd work and what the defensive reaction was going to be."
Still, after the Jets acquired legendary quarterback Brett Favre heading into Daboll's second-ever season as a quarterbacks coach, Smith joked with Daboll, "So you're teaching him how to throw the ball finally?"
"We would always laugh about that when he coached Brett Favre, 'What does he say to Brett Favre?'" Battaglia said.
***
Mangini deadpanned as he was discussing Daboll's lack of success as an NFL offensive coordinator: "It's amazing how a good quarterback makes you that much better as a coach..."
Under Daboll, the Browns ranked last out of the NFL's 32 teams in total offense in 2009 and then 29th in 2010. The Miami Dolphins were 22nd in total offense under Daboll in 2011 and Daboll's 2012 Kansas City Chiefs offense ranked 24th.
Not good. There's something important to keep in mind, though.
The quarterbacks Daboll had as an offensive coordinator is a group consisting of Brady Quinn, Derek Anderson, Colt McCoy, a 35-year old Jake Delhomme, Seneca Wallace, Matt Moore, Chad Henne, J.P. Losman and Matt Cassel.
It wasn't all bad, though.
In 2010, a Browns team that finished 5-11 beat a Patriots squad that ended up 14-2. During the 34-14 win, Daboll's offense posted 404 yards against a New England defense that finished the year ranked eighth in the NFL in scoring defense.
Brian Daboll, Alabama's new offensive coordinator, helped Cleveland stun the New England Patriots back on Nov. 7, 2010.
"That was a really good example of him articulating to players what to expect and having a great plan against what they're going to do," Mangini said.
Daboll also earned the respect of players like Delhomme, a former Pro Bowl quarterback with the Carolina Panthers.
Delhomme said, even at 35, that "there were still many things I learned from him, the nuances of a defense and things that I thought were fantastic."
"I think that's probably one of the most interesting things is that a 35-year old pro quarterback, that Brian's able to teach him some different things," Mangini said. "Now you put him in a room with young kids and him being able to accelerate their learning and the potential that has, that -- to me -- is what should be exciting to Alabama fans."
***
Thinking back to when Daboll first got to New England, Mangini remembers being impressed that "you couldn't kill him because of his work ethic."
That hasn't changed.
Those who know Alabama's new offensive coordinator describe him as passionate, incredibly detailed and a tireless worker.
"What always impressed me is whatever I'd gone in to get the answer to was really well done, and then he's bringing up this next level of information, this next level of preparation," Mangini said. "That was every day. And the quarterbacks really loved him because those guys want as much information as possible. Those guys want to drill down deeper. Those guys want to gain an edge, and Brian gives them that opportunity to do that. And if one of those guys has a question on something, Brian's going to get them the answer and then a couple other alternatives."
Chad Pennington and Jake Delhomme played for Brian Daboll. They offered some insight into what the new Alabama offensive coordinator will bring to the Crimson Tide.
Daboll rejoined the Patriots in 2013, spending one year as a coaching assistant before taking over as New England's tight ends coach in 2014.
Widely considered the Patriots' offensive coordinator-in-waiting, Daboll conceivably could have stayed in New England and waited for that job to come open. Instead, 18 years after leaving Saban for Belichick, Daboll has left Belichick to reunite with Saban.
"I think it's a great situation for him," Mangini said, "and I think it's a great situation for Alabama as well."
It didn't happen.
"At the time, Brian's new fiancee didn't really want to go to LSU, Louisiana, so Brian more or less said, 'Well, I really can't get down there,'" said Jerry Smith, Daboll's high school coach.
"Well, what do you want to do?" Saban asked.
"I'd like to get to the NFL," Daboll responded.
So Saban called New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick, his former boss, and vouched for Daboll, who ended up getting a job as a Patriots defensive assistant.
Eighteen years later, the 41-year old Daboll is back with Saban, taking over as Alabama's offensive coordinator after winning a fifth Super Bowl with the Patriots.
"It's come full circle," Smith said.
***
Before getting into coaching, Daboll was an aggressive, hard-hitting defensive back and, according to Smith, an expert of the famed "Jack Tatum hook."
Several years ago, Smith visited Daboll in New England, back when Daboll was helping with the team's defensive backs.
Inside the Patriots' locker room, Daboll introduced Smith to star safety Lawyer Milloy and other New England defensive backs. Smith remembers one of the defensive backs jokingly asking him, "Was he the man in high school?"
"They were probably expecting me to say no," Smith said. "But I said, 'You know what? Yes, he was. In two years, we only lost one game, and it was the game he missed. And if he wouldn't have missed it, we would have won the game.' They were kind of surprised."
Get to know new Alabama offensive coordinator Brian Daboll.
Daboll's playing career ended when he suffered a neck injury in 1995 while at the University of Rochester.
Informed by doctors that another bad hit could leave him paralyzed, Daboll stopped playing and became a player-coach.
"A lot of kids, when an injury like that happens, you sort of lose them, but he stuck around and was like an assistant coach for us and helped out," Daboll's college defensive coordinator, Chris Battaglia, said.
Daboll got his first real coaching job as a restricted earnings coach at William & Mary in 1997 before landing at Michigan State with Saban with the help of a high school classmate well known in the football coaching world.
***
Some high schools are known for producing a lot of NFL players. St. Francis in New York produces NFL coaches and NFL executives.
Daboll went to high school with Los Angeles Rams general manager Tom Telesco, Jacksonville Jaguars general manager Dave Caldwell, former Indianapolis Colts GM Chris Polian and former Nevada head coach and current Notre Dame special teams coach Brian Polian.
It was Brian Polian who first connected Daboll and Saban.
After a year as a graduate assistant at Michigan State under Saban, Polian landed a job as an assistant coach at Buffalo. Knowing Saban would need a new GA, Polian recommended Daboll.
After two years as a Michigan State GA, Saban made the call to Belichick, though Daboll wasn't hired until going through a challenging interview process.
Even for lower level positions, potential New England hires had to interview with the entire staff, including Belichick. Interviewing for lower level positions with most other teams isn't anywhere near as extensive.
Locksley was promoted in January after helping Alabama as an offensive analyst last year
"Brian, especially for just coming out of college, was impressive from the start -- the amount of research he had done on us and the level of preparation that he had really stood out," said former Patriots assistant Eric Mangini, who has been the head coach for the Cleveland Browns and New York Jets. "It was very impressive, so we hired him."
After two years helping Mangini with the secondary, Daboll was New England's wide receivers coach from 2002 to 2006. Mangini was then hired to coach the Jets and took Daboll with him as his quarterbacks coach. Two years later, Daboll landed the first of his three NFL offensive coordinator jobs after the Browns hired Mangini as their head coach in 2009.
"One of his greatest assets is understanding what the defense is doing," Mangini said. "And I'm not saying that coaches who haven't worked on the other side of the ball have just a superficial level of understanding, but it's different when you've taught it. And he does a great job, where it wasn't just teaching what we were doing offensively, but it's helping the guys truly understand what the defense was doing and why the plays we were using and the schemes we were using, why they'd work, how they'd work and what the defensive reaction was going to be."
Still, after the Jets acquired legendary quarterback Brett Favre heading into Daboll's second-ever season as a quarterbacks coach, Smith joked with Daboll, "So you're teaching him how to throw the ball finally?"
"We would always laugh about that when he coached Brett Favre, 'What does he say to Brett Favre?'" Battaglia said.
***
Mangini deadpanned as he was discussing Daboll's lack of success as an NFL offensive coordinator: "It's amazing how a good quarterback makes you that much better as a coach..."
Under Daboll, the Browns ranked last out of the NFL's 32 teams in total offense in 2009 and then 29th in 2010. The Miami Dolphins were 22nd in total offense under Daboll in 2011 and Daboll's 2012 Kansas City Chiefs offense ranked 24th.
Not good. There's something important to keep in mind, though.
The quarterbacks Daboll had as an offensive coordinator is a group consisting of Brady Quinn, Derek Anderson, Colt McCoy, a 35-year old Jake Delhomme, Seneca Wallace, Matt Moore, Chad Henne, J.P. Losman and Matt Cassel.
It wasn't all bad, though.
In 2010, a Browns team that finished 5-11 beat a Patriots squad that ended up 14-2. During the 34-14 win, Daboll's offense posted 404 yards against a New England defense that finished the year ranked eighth in the NFL in scoring defense.
Brian Daboll, Alabama's new offensive coordinator, helped Cleveland stun the New England Patriots back on Nov. 7, 2010.
"That was a really good example of him articulating to players what to expect and having a great plan against what they're going to do," Mangini said.
Daboll also earned the respect of players like Delhomme, a former Pro Bowl quarterback with the Carolina Panthers.
Delhomme said, even at 35, that "there were still many things I learned from him, the nuances of a defense and things that I thought were fantastic."
"I think that's probably one of the most interesting things is that a 35-year old pro quarterback, that Brian's able to teach him some different things," Mangini said. "Now you put him in a room with young kids and him being able to accelerate their learning and the potential that has, that -- to me -- is what should be exciting to Alabama fans."
***
Thinking back to when Daboll first got to New England, Mangini remembers being impressed that "you couldn't kill him because of his work ethic."
That hasn't changed.
Those who know Alabama's new offensive coordinator describe him as passionate, incredibly detailed and a tireless worker.
"What always impressed me is whatever I'd gone in to get the answer to was really well done, and then he's bringing up this next level of information, this next level of preparation," Mangini said. "That was every day. And the quarterbacks really loved him because those guys want as much information as possible. Those guys want to drill down deeper. Those guys want to gain an edge, and Brian gives them that opportunity to do that. And if one of those guys has a question on something, Brian's going to get them the answer and then a couple other alternatives."
Chad Pennington and Jake Delhomme played for Brian Daboll. They offered some insight into what the new Alabama offensive coordinator will bring to the Crimson Tide.
Daboll rejoined the Patriots in 2013, spending one year as a coaching assistant before taking over as New England's tight ends coach in 2014.
Widely considered the Patriots' offensive coordinator-in-waiting, Daboll conceivably could have stayed in New England and waited for that job to come open. Instead, 18 years after leaving Saban for Belichick, Daboll has left Belichick to reunite with Saban.
"I think it's a great situation for him," Mangini said, "and I think it's a great situation for Alabama as well."
