Choose your pair and think big. That was the job for the Mailbag constituency.
It’s great fun for all Alabama fans who don’t need to feel the pressure to win at Bryant Denny Stadium on fall Saturdays. Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban carries that burden and is well paid for it, but he’s the one who has to make the choice to the right Pair. A pair of coordinators, that is, following the departures of Bill O’Brien to the New England Patriots and Pete Golding to Ole Miss. There is much speculation as Saban continues the process of recruiting two new executive assistants. Who should he take? We asked the Sounding Board about their dream tandem. Off to the mailbag!
Going chalk on this. Glenn Schumann for DC. I like the idea of poaching from Georgia (get used to it, Kirby!). For OC, Jeff Lebby seems like the obvious choice, but if I were Saban I’d send Greg Byrne (with a round-trip ticket) to Thailand to find Kliff Kingsbury and give him a one-way ticket to Tuscaloosa . There are direct flights from Bangkok, right? -Monte from Brooklyn
Monte: Schumann is indeed a chalk pick, and a good one at that. The work he and Will Muschamp did in coordinating Georgia’s defense has been phenomenal given the talent they lost in the 2022 NFL Draft. Kingsbury is anything but chalk, but hey, I’m the one who said think big. But can the UA plane make it to Thailand?
HOT BOARD:Alabama Football Offensive Coordinator Candidates: 7 Options to Replace Bill O’Brien
SABAN’S SEARCH:Why Alabama Football Coach Nick Saban Should Hire Glenn Schumann good bread
Offensive Coordinator: Whoever got Bryce Young to actually commit. Defensive Coordinator: Gene Chizik because it would be fun to beat Auburn with a former national team coach. Plan B for both of them: the drunk guy in section NN-9 who clearly knew more than Golding, O’Brien, and Saban combined. – Ben from Huntsville
ben: I think the drunk guy in NN-9 tweeted me a few times.
My ideal pairing would be Steve Sarkisian and Kirby Smart. Well, for things that might actually happen, I’ll take Glenn Schumann at DC as he has experience running things the way Saban wants and is great at recruiting. Give me Freddie Kitchens for OC. I don’t think Mullen or Kingsbury would do well under Saban and while I think Joe Brady would do well, I’d like someone to stay here longer than a year, also I don’t want our two coordinators in her early years are 30s. – Alex from Florence
Alex: Agree that Mullen would not fit at all. That Kitchens will eventually return to coaching in Alabama in some role isn’t far-fetched, though enthusiasm for him for the OC job is slim to inaudible.
The correct hires are Joe Brady as the OC and Glenn Schumann as the DC. Joe’s previous experience/success within the SEC and the spread system makes hiring a breeze. Glenn is obviously a Bama graduate and already familiar with the Saban defensive system. A bonus out of the blue would be Ryan Walters from Illinois. He got a lot out of little at both Mizzou and Illinois. – Rusty from Huntsville
rusty: Walters got the head job at Purdue, so obviously it’s out. But just for fun, I looked for any connections I could find between Walters and Alabama or Saban. There was a 2018 Alabama win over Missouri, 39-10 that saw his defense give up 544 yards. However, he was originally hired at Mizzou by Gary Pinkel, who is a close friend and former college teammate of Saban’s at Kent State.
Reach Chase Goodbread at [email protected] Follow @chasegoodbread on Twitter.
