Hiring two former NFL head coaches less than a year removed from when they were at the helm in the pros is a unique circumstance. But that’s what Alabama coach Nick Saban did this offseason with new offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien and offensive line coach Doug Marrone.

O’Brien previously was with the Houston Texans, and Marrone with the Jacksonville Jaguars. But in an interview with the SEC Network on Wednesday, Saban explained how the coaches’ college experience factored in.

“These guys both have a lot of experience in college and very successful experience, I might add,” Saban said Wednesday on SEC Network, per 247Sports. “We’re not trying to re-invent the wheel here when we hire new people. Like I said before, we have a culture, we have a system on offense, we have a system on defense, we have a system on special teams.”

It’s not so much a change, in Saban’s mind, but an add-on with a coach who brings additional experience.

“We’re trying to make those systems better, as all people do in their offseason film study and what they try to do and improve,” Saban said. “We’ll continue to use the new knowledge, the new experience, the new energy that we have with new people, to try to make those things better. But we’re not looking to wholesale change it for our players.”

Later, at a press conference to recap national signing day, Saban pointed to O’Brien’s history as a coach.

“You’re talking about a guy who has a really good track record, in terms of whatever his responsibility has been, and he’s someone that I’ve always had a tremendous amount of respect for,” Saban said.