Said I'd add a little more on the Golding stuff when the DC hire was made. Here goes... You guys remember the Chris Lowe tweet that stated that Saban wanted to keep Golding for another year (right after he took the Ole Miss job)? Lots of Bama fans laughed at it. I said from the very beginning of this, that Saban wasn't going to cut the line on Golding if he didn't have a better replacement already lined up. At the time, he wasn't ready to take the leap on Pruitt (and obviously still isn't). But, the there was truth in Lowe's tweet. Saban was going to allow Golding to work the final year of his contract. Golding is the one that wanted out. Ordinarily, Saban would have pushed and he'd have stayed (like other's have done in the past for him), but extenuating circumstances with his family kept Saban from doing that. So, Golding went to where he felt was better for him and his family. Saban understood, but it sped up his plan by a year... which meant the Pruitt situation was still too cloudy. UA worked hard to get some assurances re: Pruitt's NCAA case, but didn't get the answers they wanted. The Vols have served him up to be completely hammered over the payments and the NCAA is even highly pissed about the COVID protocols that were broken during the violations. Other stuff involved too like his pending lawsuit against Tennessee, and it's just too many cons to outweigh the pros for the UA admin to greenlight the hire of him as DC. That left Saban with guys like Schumann, who turned him down in favor of promises made by Kirby (who he's very loyal to). Leonhard was contacted, I'm unsure if an offer was made, but I don't believe it was based on I was told he never made a trip to Tuscaloosa. Others were spoken with. Grantham was never offered for those wondering.
Saban likes Steele. Knows what to expect from him. The positives on Steele are, he's probably now the 2nd most knowledgeable "football mind" in the building now other than Saban. He's also a fantastic teacher on the fundamentals and the scheme, something Golding didn't have the highest marks on. He will be a better overall game planner and better with adjustments too. He brings some of that old school Bama attitude back too that has been absent and IMO, softened the defense some. I understand the disappointment by some over the hire... personally, I wanted Pruitt or Grantham... but there were only so many guys that were realistic hires... and of those, Steele is as good or better than most IMO. And yes, like others have stated, this is setting up as "Pruitt replacement situation" when his eventual show cause expires. Also, the door isn't closed yet on Pruitt being an analyst at some point before the fall... as said broken record style, that would be massive.