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Bill O'Brien discusses plans for Alabama's offense this season

On the surface, it’s easy to get caught up in the changes surrounding Alabama’s offense this season. The Crimson Tide is replacing a Heisman Trophy winner at receiver, a Doak Walker Award winner at running back, a record-setting quarterback and three of the five starters on an offensive line that earned the Joe Moore Award.

And that’s just on the field.

Alabama is also replacing its offensive coordinator, Steve Sarkisian, who took the head coaching job at Texas after winning the Broyles Award last season.

Bill O’Brien finds himself thrust into the middle of that transition as he enters his first season as Alabama’s offensive coordinator. Although change is abundant, the first-year assistant doesn’t expect many adjustments to the Tide’s attack this season.

“At the end of the day, it’s the Alabama offense,” O’Brien said Sunday during his first media appearance since taking the job.

O’Brien is Alabama’s fifth offensive coordinator since 2014, following Lane Kiffin (2014-16), Brian Daboll (2017), Mike Locksley (2018) and Sarkisian (2019-20). While last year’s offense might look drastically different than the unit Kiffin took over in 2014, the alterations have come incrementally with each coordinator imprinting their own particular wrinkle during their respective tenure. Sunday, O’Brien said he plans to continue that trend while building an offense that best suits Alabama’s personnel.

“It’s evolved over time with all these great offensive minds that have been here,” O’Brien said of Alabama’s offense. “Every year’s different. I think in the end, it comes down to who your players are, what can they do best, who your quarterback is, what can he do best and what’s best for the team. So no year is like any other year, so this year will be very different than any other year, and that’s just the way it is in football. That’s the way it’s always been in my career. And these guys are working hard every single day to try to improve.”

O’Brien refrained from labels when asked to describe himself as a play-caller, stating that his offensive philosophy changes from year to year based on the type of players he has to work with. Perhaps the biggest influence in this year’s offense comes from behind center as Alabama replaces All-American quarterback Mac Jones with five-star talent Bryce Young.

While O’Brien didn’t delve too deeply into his plans, it’s likely the Tide’s offense will look a little different with Young behind center. The 6-foot, 194-pound sophomore offers more mobility than his 6-foot-3, 214-pound predecessor. It would be foolish for O’Brien not to make opposing defenses account for that in some capacity.

Fortunately for Alabama, that’s nothing new for O’Brien who has had success with a wide array of quarterbacks, varying from pocket passers such as Tom Brady to dual-threat options like Deshaun Watson.

“These guys that I’ve coached over the years, everybody brought a little bit of a different skill set each year, and you’ve got to do what’s best for not only them but also the players around them,” O’Brien said. “So whether it’s the receivers, tight ends, the backs, the offensive line, that all plays out during training camp. You have an idea of how that’s gonna play out after spring practice, but now, this is when the real deal starts in training camp and you really start to see what your foundation offensively is going to be. Again, it’s Alabama’s offense, and that’s what we’re running.”

After working with Young this spring, O’Brien should have a good idea about what the first-year starter brings to the table. Young capped off an impressive spring camp by earning MVP honors during the A-Day game and looked similarly impressive over the summer, according to those close to the program.

“What stands out to me about Bryce is he’s been very well coached, well coached in high school, very well coached last year at Alabama,” O’Brien said. “He’s a very bright young man. He works really hard. He’s a really good teammate and he cares about the team.”

O’Brien went on to compliment each of Alabama’s quarterbacks, not only signaling out scholarship players such as Paul Tyson and Jalen Milroe but also walk-ons Braxton Barker and Stone Hollenbach.

“It’s a really good room,” O’Brien said. “They care about the team and they all understand their roles on the team and what they have to do individually to get better to help the team get better. It’s been fun to coach that room.”

Sunday, O’Brien emphasized the importance of the quarterback position, stating preparation of whoever is behind center will be key to implementing his offensive scheme.

“The quarterback position, the way it has evolved over time, it’s really a coach on the field,” he said. “That’s the way it’s been here at Alabama and Alabama’s offense, and that’s the offense we’re running. We’re running Alabama’s offense. The quarterback, he has to be very well prepared, from practice to practice, from meeting to meeting and quite obviously in the games because there’s going to be a lot of things.

“With all the multiplicity that you see on defense these days, and especially our defense every single day, you’ve got to be able to adjust. You’ve got to be able to communicate with our teammates.

“There has to be a trust developed. Not only a trust of me trusting the quarterback but the quarterback trusting our offensive staff and me that we’re putting them in the right position to make the right decision. It’s a two-way street when it comes to trust, and that’s why that position is so much fun to coach.”

So far, that trust seems to be developing right on schedule. Earlier Sunday, Nick Saban spoke highly of O’Brien, referring to him as “a good teacher” while commending him for his ability to connect with his players.

“I think there's nothing but positives,” Saban said. “Now, we haven't been through a game yet together. And I think all these things are sort of a work in progress as you go, as they find out what your expectation is and then how they respond to it. But so far, they've responded in a positive way to each and every thing we've asked them to do."

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Alabama offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien. Photo | Alabama Athletics
Alabama offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien. Photo | Alabama Athletics
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