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The national coaching carousel made its way to Tuscaloosa this week when news broke Tuesday evening that Kirby Smart would be named the next coach at the University of Georgia as early as Sunday, Dec. 6.
Nick Saban did not confirm the news Wednesday during his post-practice press conference, but he has repeatedly said he believes his long-time assistant will be a great head coach when he's given an opportunity. Well, that opportunity is now -- as the Crimson Tide gets set to face Florida in the SEC Championship Game on Saturday inside the Georgia Dome at 3 p.m. CT.
But according to a recent report, Smart will maintain his coaching duties at Alabama through the rest of the postseason, just like Jim McElwain did in 2011 before he left Tuscaloosa to take over Colorado State's football program.
Georgia, however, is obviously a better head-coaching job than Colorado State, but on Friday, Saban revealed how he and UA help the assistants that are trying to handle two jobs at once. He developed the technique while in the NFL.
"When I was at the Cleveland Browns in 1994 with Bill Belichick and we were going to go to the playoffs as a team, I happened to get the Michigan State job around this time or whatever, but said that I would not leave the team until, you know, we finished the season and were out of the playoffs," Saban said.
"... So Bill and Art Modell set up -- had a person that helped organize all the phone calls coming in so that when I was working as a Cleveland Browns coach, I wouldn't have to deal with all that stuff. And then when I went home at night, they gave me all the people who called, whether they wanted jobs or recruiting issues or whatever it was, and I'd look at it on my way home, maybe I'd look at it in the morning on the way in, and then I'd hand it back and say, 'Please do this.' They would do it, and I could go focus on what I was doing for the Cleveland Browns.
"We tried to organize a very similar circumstance for Jim and that was very helpful to us. Hopefully it was helpful to him, because he did a really good job and we played really well on offense in the National Championship Game and ended up winning."
Saban explains how to help coaches balance two jobs
Nick Saban did not confirm the news Wednesday during his post-practice press conference, but he has repeatedly said he believes his long-time assistant will be a great head coach when he's given an opportunity. Well, that opportunity is now -- as the Crimson Tide gets set to face Florida in the SEC Championship Game on Saturday inside the Georgia Dome at 3 p.m. CT.
But according to a recent report, Smart will maintain his coaching duties at Alabama through the rest of the postseason, just like Jim McElwain did in 2011 before he left Tuscaloosa to take over Colorado State's football program.
Georgia, however, is obviously a better head-coaching job than Colorado State, but on Friday, Saban revealed how he and UA help the assistants that are trying to handle two jobs at once. He developed the technique while in the NFL.
"When I was at the Cleveland Browns in 1994 with Bill Belichick and we were going to go to the playoffs as a team, I happened to get the Michigan State job around this time or whatever, but said that I would not leave the team until, you know, we finished the season and were out of the playoffs," Saban said.
"... So Bill and Art Modell set up -- had a person that helped organize all the phone calls coming in so that when I was working as a Cleveland Browns coach, I wouldn't have to deal with all that stuff. And then when I went home at night, they gave me all the people who called, whether they wanted jobs or recruiting issues or whatever it was, and I'd look at it on my way home, maybe I'd look at it in the morning on the way in, and then I'd hand it back and say, 'Please do this.' They would do it, and I could go focus on what I was doing for the Cleveland Browns.
"We tried to organize a very similar circumstance for Jim and that was very helpful to us. Hopefully it was helpful to him, because he did a really good job and we played really well on offense in the National Championship Game and ended up winning."
Saban explains how to help coaches balance two jobs
