It's hard to replace a legend, but the next head coach of the Alabama football program will be tasked with an epic job replacing the great Nick Saban and his run leading the Crimson Tide program.
Rumors were circulating pretty heavily as the week progressed that something was off. Saban was interviewing potential staff earlier in the week and then everything stopped and he decided to retire per our sources. Had he planned it out he would've retired sooner but he apparently didn't really make the decision until this week that he was done per sources close to Saban.
From talking to buddies who both worked for Saban and others in the industry, the speculation that Dan Lanning is target #1 for the Bama job is correct. His $20 million buyout is not a concern. Lanning is making about 40% of Saban's salary at Oregon and even bumping him up, the Tide have a big enough war chest to handle that buyout.
Lanning worked for Saban, and he knows the ropes, he worked for Kirby Smart who worked for Saban and he is in the family so to speak. Saban will have input if he wants to in the hiring process, but it is unknown if he told Greg Bryne anything specific or if he wants to have an active role or will simply retire with Ms. Terry to enjoy his golden years. My guess is he will not be heavily involved and will not want to cast a shadow over his successor.
Lanning has lost 5 games as a head coach in two years, three times to Washington (2x this year) and once to UGA who won the Natty that season, and once to Oregon State in a four-point game. Other than the UGA game, his first as a coach his teams lost by a combined 13 points total in those games.
If it is Lanning it should be done within 48 hours per my sources in the coaching world. I had a sitting coach at another P5 school straight up tell me to write the story that Lanning is taking the job.
The X-factor in all of this is Phil Knight at Oregon. Will he make some crazy offer to keep Lanning?
Of course, Lane Kiffin would be interested in the job as would many other coaches. I think Lanning makes the most sense all things considered and he has the personality to handle the move.
Byrne for his part has moved very quickly to make hires during his tenure as AD at Alabama.
This is what I'm hearing from multiple sources in the coaching world. Stay tuned.
KQ
Rumors were circulating pretty heavily as the week progressed that something was off. Saban was interviewing potential staff earlier in the week and then everything stopped and he decided to retire per our sources. Had he planned it out he would've retired sooner but he apparently didn't really make the decision until this week that he was done per sources close to Saban.
From talking to buddies who both worked for Saban and others in the industry, the speculation that Dan Lanning is target #1 for the Bama job is correct. His $20 million buyout is not a concern. Lanning is making about 40% of Saban's salary at Oregon and even bumping him up, the Tide have a big enough war chest to handle that buyout.
Lanning worked for Saban, and he knows the ropes, he worked for Kirby Smart who worked for Saban and he is in the family so to speak. Saban will have input if he wants to in the hiring process, but it is unknown if he told Greg Bryne anything specific or if he wants to have an active role or will simply retire with Ms. Terry to enjoy his golden years. My guess is he will not be heavily involved and will not want to cast a shadow over his successor.
Lanning has lost 5 games as a head coach in two years, three times to Washington (2x this year) and once to UGA who won the Natty that season, and once to Oregon State in a four-point game. Other than the UGA game, his first as a coach his teams lost by a combined 13 points total in those games.
If it is Lanning it should be done within 48 hours per my sources in the coaching world. I had a sitting coach at another P5 school straight up tell me to write the story that Lanning is taking the job.
The X-factor in all of this is Phil Knight at Oregon. Will he make some crazy offer to keep Lanning?
Of course, Lane Kiffin would be interested in the job as would many other coaches. I think Lanning makes the most sense all things considered and he has the personality to handle the move.
Byrne for his part has moved very quickly to make hires during his tenure as AD at Alabama.
This is what I'm hearing from multiple sources in the coaching world. Stay tuned.
KQ
