Consistency is hard to come by in the modern world of college football, but it’s also the cornerstone for a successful program.
Schools and their administrations are less patient than ever when it comes to retaining coaching staffs, and even a brief run of disappointing seasons can cost an entire staff their jobs. Likewise, too much success in a short period of time often leads to other schools poaching a number of promising assistants, forcing even the best teams to scramble in piecing a staff back together.
But the few coaching staffs that have stayed relatively in tact in the last decade have achieved tremendous success as a result.
Alabama is the perfect example. Yes, Alabama has indeed made changes to Nick Saban’s staff since he arrived in Tuscaloosa in 2007. But Saban’s top assistant — defensive coordinator Kirby Smart — has been on the staff since 2007 and has turned down a number of FBS head coaching jobs during that time.
The Crimson Tide has won three national championships since Smart joined the staff, and it could add a fourth this season. It’s won at least 10 games in seven straight seasons and has only lost more than two games in a season once in that span.
Alabama has boasted one of the nation’s top 10 defenses in each of Smart’s six seasons as defensive coordinator (he was promoted to the position in 2008). It boasted the No. 1 defense in America twice and claimed a top 5 defense four times since ’08.
The consistency of Alabama’s defensive coaching staff has led to the unit become one of the most feared in all of college football. Top defensive recruits crave an offer from Saban and Smart, past defensive stars are now cashing NFL checks, and opposing offenses lose sleep at night thinking about facing the Crimson Tide.
For the nation’s most dominant program in recent memory, consistency continues to serve as the key to success.
Another team that embodies this principle is Missouri. The Tigers have maintained head coach Gary Pinkel since 2001, tying Georgia’s Mark Richt as the longest-tenured coach in the SEC (although Pinkel’s first 11 on the job were served in the Big 12).
Pinkel began his tenure with a 9-14 record in his first two seasons in Mizzou, but after establishing a culture of consistency he gradually elevated the program to new heights, winning two Big 12 North Division titles and two SEC East titles in his first three seasons in the conference.
One of his longest-tenured assistants, defensive line coach Craig Kuligowski (a 23-year Pinkel assistant) has also achieved success through consistency. He’s produced NFL stars like Aldon Smith and SEC Defensive Players of the Year in Michael Sam and Shane Ray, and Missouri has ranked in the top 10 in the nation in sacks three times in the last six years.
The coaching staffs, or even just collections of coaches within a given staff, that stay together often win together. To last together for an extended period of time in today’s day and age is indicative of success. And even successful staffs face threats to their consistency in the form of interest from other schools in top assistants.
Establishing consistency isn’t easy, but neither is winning at the FBS level. The two go hand-in-hand, and Alabama and Missouri are proof of that.
At the end of the day, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
A former newspaper reporter who has roamed the southeastern United States for years covering football and eating way too many barbecue ribs, if there is such a thing.
