It started with Saban's arrival at Alabama. Four national championships later, everyone is playing copycat.
Looking at the college game through the lens of his time in the NFL, Saban beefed up the Tide's organizational infrastructure, adding bodies to the personnel department and bringing in accomplished coaches to lend a hand wherever possible.
Getting an accurate number of everyone working in the Mal Moore Athletic Facility is difficult -- in 2012, there were 146 non-coaches on the athletic department payroll -- but a few big names stand out over the past few years. For instance, when McElwain was offensive coordinator, he had former Power 5 offensive coordinators Mike Groh (Virginia) and Billy Napier (Clemson) on his staff. Kevin Steele, who had been a head coach at Baylor, served as director of player personnel in 2013. The next year, former Washington assistant and ace recruiter Tosh Lupoi joined the staff as an analyst. This year, former Maryland O.C. Mike Locksley will hold a similar position.
"We learn things all the time from other people, how they do things," Saban said. "We're always looking for a better way, and everybody is responsible for that. So when you have the opportunity to get somebody like Mike, they bring a lot to the table. ... He'll have some ideas that will contribute to what we're doing in a certain segment systematically. There are a lot of benefits in bringing somebody with his experience aboard."
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Long read, but interesting one ... and hey, Scarborough made it through an article with Bama as a subject and didn't mention Auburn. :shock:
The ever-expanding college football coaching staff and how Nick Saban started it all
Looking at the college game through the lens of his time in the NFL, Saban beefed up the Tide's organizational infrastructure, adding bodies to the personnel department and bringing in accomplished coaches to lend a hand wherever possible.
Getting an accurate number of everyone working in the Mal Moore Athletic Facility is difficult -- in 2012, there were 146 non-coaches on the athletic department payroll -- but a few big names stand out over the past few years. For instance, when McElwain was offensive coordinator, he had former Power 5 offensive coordinators Mike Groh (Virginia) and Billy Napier (Clemson) on his staff. Kevin Steele, who had been a head coach at Baylor, served as director of player personnel in 2013. The next year, former Washington assistant and ace recruiter Tosh Lupoi joined the staff as an analyst. This year, former Maryland O.C. Mike Locksley will hold a similar position.
"We learn things all the time from other people, how they do things," Saban said. "We're always looking for a better way, and everybody is responsible for that. So when you have the opportunity to get somebody like Mike, they bring a lot to the table. ... He'll have some ideas that will contribute to what we're doing in a certain segment systematically. There are a lot of benefits in bringing somebody with his experience aboard."
_____________________
Long read, but interesting one ... and hey, Scarborough made it through an article with Bama as a subject and didn't mention Auburn. :shock:
The ever-expanding college football coaching staff and how Nick Saban started it all
