Nick Saban puts together high caliber staff right before Signing Day
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Following the 2018 season, Alabama head football coach Nick Saban has hired seven new assistant coaches just one week before National Signing Day. On Sunday, January 27 reports surfaced that Mississippi State’s defensive line coach Brian Baker would join Alabama’s staff which puts the finishing touches on a very busy coaching carousel for Alabama in the month of January. Today, we’ll review each assistant coach that has been hired and give our take on where the new assistant could excel or fail.
Steve Sarkisian
Projected as Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks Coach
Backstory: Sarkisian coached the quarterbacks for the Oakland Raiders in 2004, then coached the quarterbacks at USC before becoming the head coach for the Trojans from 2014-15. Sarkisian was then hired as an offensive analyst at Alabama in 2016 and became the offensive coordinator for one game after Lane Kiffin was fired. Sarkisian coached Alabama’s offense during the 2017 national championship, which Alabama lost 35-31. Sarkisian then took the offensive coordinator position with the Atlanta Falcons from 2017-2018 before being hired back at Alabama.
Where Sarkisian could excel: Continuing to develop Tua Tagovailoa. This will be Tagovailoa’s third quarterback coach in as many seasons. Sarkisian also will get to develop Taulia Tagovailoa and Paul Tyson who enter as just freshmen. Sarkisian could also excel at Alabama by implemented more of a balanced offensive attack utilizing running backs Najee Harris and Brian Robinson to knock off some game clock, and also improve on Alabama’s red-zone efficiency.
Where Sarkisian could fail: Hard to see Sarkisian failing in a quarterback room with so much talent, but where he could fail is to try to over-manage an offense that returns the most firepower in college football. If Sarkisian cannot find a good blend of an air attack and a power ground game, Sarkisian will be out next January.
Kyle Flood
Projected as Offensive Line Coach
Backstory: Coached Rutgers’ offensive line from 2005-06, then became the assistant head coach and the offensive line coach at Rutgers from 2009-11, before becoming the head coach at Rutgers from 2012-15. Flood coached with the Atlanta Falcons as their assistant offensive coach from 2017-18, before landing in Tuscaloosa.
Where Flood could excel: While the Alabama offense returns a ton of talent, Alabama has to replace their starting left tackle Jonah Williams and starting center Ross Pierschbacher who both left Alabama to head for the NFL Draft. Flood will have to help a player like Alex Leatherwood grow closer to his potential. Basically, he could turn Leatherwood into a future NFL starter, but it’s clear that Leatherwood needs a lot of improvement, especially replacing a player such as Jonah Williams. Flood will also have to coach up players like Chris Owens and Emil Ekiyor who will battle for the starting center position in 2019. If Flood can develop a two-year starter at the center position, that will be a big plus for the Crimson Tide’s offensive line.
Where Flood could fail: By not molding future talent. With young tackles Tommy Brown, Amari Kight, and Evan Neal all in waiting, it’s monumental that Flood is able to transition those three into reliable bookends to the offensive line as they are the future of Alabama football.
Sal Sunseri
Projected as Outside Linebackers Coach
Backstory: Sunseri coached at Alabama under Nick Saban from 2009-11 where he was the assistant coach and linebackers coach. More recently, Sunseri was the defensive line coach at Florida in 2018, coached the linebackers for the Oakland Raiders from 2015-17, coached the defensive ends at Florida State from 2013-14, was the defensive coordinator at Tennessee in 2012, and as the defensive line coach for the Carolina Panthers from 2002-08. Sunseri has a wealth of knowledge on the defensive side of the football, a very key addition to the 2019 staff.
Where Sunseri could excel: Alabama’s outside linebackers are a group that should be tops in the Country during the 2019 season. Sunseri will have what appears to be a healthy Terrell Lewis and getting Lewis to the quarterback in 2019 is vital. The more Alabama gets their hands on the quarterback, the better. Sunseri can also help build the mindset of two very talented returning sophomores in Eyabai Anoma and Cameron Latu who should each be ready for plenty of action this season. Overall, Sunseri was brought on to help ignite the Alabama defense, plain and simple.
Where Sunseri could fail: It will be interesting to see how Sunseri works with the players as opposed to Tosh Lupoi, many times over the players said they enjoyed the energy that Lupoi brought. If Sunseri cannot win the outside linebacker room, that would be a miss. Also, on the recruiting trail, Sunseri has some big shoes to fill as Lupoi was an excellent recruiter...