Alabama Football New Offensive Coordinator: 10 Names; 4 Maybes; 6 No-Way

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 12:31 p.m. ET

Fansided, Ronald Evans/FanSided via Bama Hammer

Dec 4, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; The Alabama Crimson Tide logo on the playing field at the Georgia Dome in preparation for the SEC Championship Saturday. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

The Alabama Football search and 10 Possibilities: 4 coaches who could be hired and 6 coaches who have no chance.

The Alabama Football Offensive Coordinator search has sent a shock-wave across the college football landscape. It is the hottest topic since the championship game. Yesterday media experts, caught by surprise, were throwing names around that have no chance.

Today let’s take a few deep breaths and ease away from the clamor. History tells us Nick Saban is not likely to be in a rush to make a decision. We can be assured the man who has a plan for everything will not make a move until his choice is sure.

We can speculate on what strengths Saban will be seeking in his next hire. First and foremost, Saban wants a coach who is adaptable. Nick is not totally turning over the offense to anyone. From the Kiffin experience, we know Nick is open to new ideas and styles of play.

We also know that no Saban team will ever be willing to simply outscore the opposition, Big 12 style. Alabama, through Saban’s recruiting wizardry, has loaded up on dangerous running backs and big, strong and quick offensive linemen. Saban will demand run/pass offensive balance be achieved.

It is reasonable to expect that Saban is looking to hire a coach who is a gifted “Quarterback-Whisperer.” All the Tide quarterbacks are young. They need a coach with whom they can bond. They need a coach who knows young men, almost as well as he does X’s and O’s.

Let’s work our way through a list of 10 coaches. Four of them seem to fit the requirements defined above. Then we will look at six more that do not.

Sep 12, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Southern California Trojans receivers coach Tee Martin during the game against the Idaho Vandals at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Tee Martin – Offensive Coordinator – USC

Tee Martin is a hot coaching commodity, despite only being an Offensive Coordinator for one season. Why would some Tide fans be unhappy with Martin? That’s easy. He played for Tennessee. What is worse, he grew up in Alabama and left the state to play for the Vols. Bad enough? No, it gets worse. In 1998 Martin, at starting quarterback, led Tennessee to the BCS Championship.

Nick Saban would give less thought to such dissonance than he would a gnat buzzing around his straw hat during a hot, August practice. Advice to Alabama fans (including myself), get over it.

Martin’s star is clearly on the rise. Many Tennessee fans are lusting for Butch’s demise sometime in 2017 and Martin returning to the Vols as Head Coach in 2018.

Most of Martin’s coaching career has been spent working with wide receivers. He only has two years as an Offensive Coordinator. It may be significant that one of those years as OC was 2009 when Martin worked at New Mexico for Mike Locksley.

Between then and his USC stint that began in 2012, Martin worked at Kentucky. In his 2nd season for the Wildcats, he was the passing game coordinator.

This past season at USC, Martin is given credit for quickly molding freshman quarterback, Sam Darnold into one of the top QB’s in the nation. Another plus for Martin. He is respected as a top recruiter.

The biggest risk for Martin is that damn Volunteer connection. When UT pulls the trigger on the Dave Hart to Phil Fulmer Athletic Director transition, Butch is likely to be gone. Fat Phil coached Tee on the 1998 BCS Championship team.

Bring in Tee Martin as Offensive Coordinator and after one season he might abandon Alabama again.

Jan 3, 2016; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Texans offensive coordinator George Godsey looks on from the sideline during the fourth quarter against the Jacksonville Jaguars at NRG Stadium. The Texans won 30-6. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

George Godsey – Former Offensive Coordinator – Houston Texans

Unlike Tee Martin, George Godsey has a positive Alabama connection. His father played for Paul Bryant at Alabama.

Godsey parted ways with the Houston Texans last month. He spent three seasons with the Texans, the last two as Offensive Coordinator. Many knowledgeable NFL sources believe Godsey was the fall-guy for the Texans’ trainwreck. The Texans decision to acquire free-agent Brock Osweiler for $72 million has been a disaster.

Someone had to take the fall. It probably should have been Bill O’Brien, but Godsey was designated as the sacrificial lamb.

Godsey was a star quarterback in his final two seasons at Georgia Tech. He was All-Atlantic Coast Conference, Academic All-ACC, and set the school record for career completions at 63.3 percent.

Godsey spent seven seasons coaching at Central Florida under George O’Leary. After one year as a Graduate Assistant, he was Quarterback coach and Running back coach for UCF.

After leaving UCF, he spent three seasons as a Belichick assistant at New England. His last two seasons with the Patriots he coached tight ends.

Godsey, like his two-time boss Bill O’Brien prefers a balanced, possession controlling offensive scheme that seeks to physically dominate opponents. Any of that sound familiar Tide fans? Of course, it does, and that is one of the reasons Godsey is a legitimate candidate for Alabama and Nick Saban.

Oct 28, 2016; Fresno, CA, USA; Fresno State Bulldogs interim head coach Eric Kiesau talks with quarterback Chason Virgil (5) on the sidelines against the Air Force Falcons in the third quarter at Bulldog Stadium. The Falcons defeated the Bulldogs 31-21. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

Eric Kiesau – Wide Receivers Coach – Boise State

Eric Kiesau has worked at nine different colleges since 2000: Oregon, Utah State, California, Colorado, Washington, Kansas, Alabama, Fresno State and Boise State. His work has been mostly as an assistant, though he was an offensive analyst for the Tide and briefly served as Head Coach at Fresno State.

From Chris Vannini at coachingsearch.com here is what Kiesau said about Nick Saban and his 2015 season at Alabama, “What I learned from him internally, how to run an organization, how to treat people and get the most out of people comes from him. From the day I got there, on my laptop, I was taking notes every day. I was studying him, watching him. I wasn’t in a coordinator role, wasn’t in a position coach role. I had the opportunity to sit back and watch and observe this guy and study him. That’s what I did for the whole year. I took as much as I could from him.”

Talking about a guy that Nick Saban already knows well enough to understand what he would bring to the Tide. That guy is Eric Kiesau.

Kiesau has considerable experience as an offensive coach. He was Offensive Coordinator at Colorado, Washington and Fresno State. He was co- Offensive Coordinator and play-caller at Kansas. He was receivers coach and passing game coordinator at California. And he was a college quarterback.

Kiesau has acknowledged acumen for tutoring Pro-Style quarterbacks and installing no-huddle offenses. Some insiders believe Kiesau was a major reason for the Tide’s offensive success in 2015. He appears to be another excellent fit for Nick Saban’s expectations.

The biggest problem with Kiesau is that he has been on the Boise State staff less than a month. But then again, the man does get around.

April 11, 2015; Stanford, CA, USA; Stanford Cardinal offensive coordinator Mike Bloomgren looks on during the spring football game at Stanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Mike Bloomgren – Offensive Coordinator – Stanford

Mike Bloomgren played high school football in Tallahassee and college ball at Culver-Stockton College. He graduated from Florida State and then spent three years as a Graduate Assistant at Alabama. While at Alabama he earned a Masters in Education, graduating with a 4.0 grade-point average.

From 2002-2006, Bloomgren coached at Catawba and Delta State, mostly with offensive coordinator duties. He spent four seasons in the NFL with the New York Jets, including one season as quarterbacks coach and one season as Offensive Coordinator.

Bloomgren left the Jets for Stanford in 2011 and became the Cardinal Offensive Coordinator in 2013.

The Cardinal has had considerable success during the six seasons Bloomgren has been in Palo Alto. Stanford head coach David Shaw once stated that his goal was to make The Cardinal the “Alabama of the West.” Mike Bloomgren has had a large role in Stanford working toward that goal.

Accordingly, Stanford’s offensive goals are very similar to those of Alabama. Use a balanced attack and punish the other team physically until they quit.

It appears Bloomgren would be a perfect fit for Alabama. There is a problem, though. In 2015, Bloomgren tweeted, “People don’t leave Stanford University or David Shaw for lateral moves.” As Alabama fans, we believe there are no lateral moves to Alabama. What does Mike Bloomgren believe?

Nov 19, 2016; Ames, IA, USA; Texas Tech Red Raiders head coach Kliff Kingsbury paces the sidelines against the Iowa State Cyclones at Jack Trice Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reese Strickland-USA TODAY Sports

This group of coaches WILL NOT be hired as Alabama Offensive Coordinator

Lincoln Riley, Sonny Cumbie, Sonny Dykes, Phil Longo, Art Briles, Kendall Briles – or anyone named Briles for that matter.

Quite a list of high-powered offensive coaches that will not be considered for one reason. Well, for two of them, there are multiple reasons.

The one thing they all share that disqualifies them for Alabama Offensive Coordinator – two words, Air Raid.

They are all disciples of the Air-Raid school of offensive football. Not familiar with the Air-Raid? Here is a brief history:

The “Air Raid” was popularized by Lavell Edwards at BYU. In the mid-1970’s Edwards started using an old Sid Gillman playbook so BYU could stretch the field vertically, horizontally and unpredictably.

Sid Gillman started his coaching career in 1938 and ended it after the 1974 season. Gillman shaped an early NFL propensity to throw often and labeled his offensive style “feast or famine”.

Today’s “Air-Raid”, more than anything, is the old “feast or famine” offense of Sid Gillman. The coaches that followed and embraced this style of wide-open football include Edwards, Hal Mumme, Mike Leach, Dana Holgorsen, Kliff Kingsbury, Art Briles and Kendall, Sonny Dykes, Sonny Cumbie, Phil Longo, Lincoln Riley, among others.

Even without any inside information from Miss Terry, we can be pretty sure the thought of an Air-Raid coach on the staff at Alabama would give Nick Saban nightmares.

Stay tuned as the saga of Alabama’s next Offensive Coordinator continues.