Leave it to Nick Saban to have an opening on his staff and quickly fill it with an overqualified candidate that could easily be seen as an upgrade to the previous assistant coach to successfully fill the role.
That’s all part of the process for the Crimson Tide as Saban’s program seems to go through these steps nearly every time it wins a national championship.
Saban has several spots to fill on his coaching staff following the departure of offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian to Texas, who turned around and took offensive line coach Kyle Flood and tight ends coach and special teams coordinator Jeff Banks with him to Austin.
Now Saban has filled one of those spots by hiring Doug Marrone, the former Jacksonville Jaguars, Buffalo Bills and Syracuse head coach, according to multiple reports. The first to share the news of this hire was Matt Zenitz of AL.com.
During his coaching career, Marrone has served as an offensive line coach at several different colleges and with many NFL franchises, in addition to having some experience as an offensive coordinator. Here’s a list of the stops Marrone has made during his time as an offensive line coach: Georgia Tech, Georgia, Tennessee, New York Jets, New Orleans Saints and the Jacksonville Jaguars.
While Bill O’Brien’s hire as Alabama’s next offensive coordinator has not yet been announced formally, you have to believe if he is the next play-caller for the Crimson Tide, he likely signed off on the decision to hire Marrone as his offensive line coach.
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com
