If they do hire the Oregon coach, I hope it works out as well as when FSU hired Oregon's Willie Taggart.
Fun fact: Dabo Swinney’s contract at Clemson has a clause specifically increasing his exit buyout if he were to leave for Alabama. If Dabo were to leave Clemson for any other school before 2031 his buyout would be $5M, but for Alabama that buyout goes up to $7.5M. My prediction is Dabo is the replacement, but I am not placing money on that.
If you believe the Oregon reporter, Lanning is the Bama pick. I would think UGA and TX pay up to retain Kirby and Sark. Dabo fall back option but not adapting to NIL or portal well, and he refuses to take commits from kids that visit other programs. Not keeping up with times.
Clemson fan here. Not like the GAtors, but I follow them. I really doubt it will be dabo. I'd put money on that. Dabo has thin skin, he's appreciated at Clemson, and he's comfortable. None of those things would translate well to Bama. Yes he went there but that was decades ago.
Thinking Lanning as well. He's got the stink of "The latest and greatest" shiny new toy smell surrounding him. Gonna be a tough gig for whomever steps in, because the BAMA pain threshold ends at one loss per season. Glad Saban is gone, I would enjoy Bama sliding back a bit considering the obnoxious fan base.
“Nick Saban cited his age and health concerns to his Alabama team when explaining his bombshell decision to retire, according to multiple sources. The 72-year old didn’t mention any specific health issues, according to sources, and kept his speech to the team short and direct. His retirement decision caught many inside the building by surprise because he was working until the moment he told the team he was retiring. When Saban finally told the team, it left the room stunned. The team was told that Alabama hoped to have its next head coach in place in the next 72 hours, according to sources.” https://247sports.com/article/why-d...nd-health-concerns-in-team-meeting-225089871/
The position is Dan Lanning's if he wants it. His record at Oregon speaks for itself and he has previous SEC experience as Georgia's DC including a year (2021) in which the Dawgs won the National Championship with a defense that gave up a total of 153 points in 15 games.
Thanks VA - Just my opinion of course but Lanning has a nice rosey situation at Oregon. Can he win a title there? Iffy, but he will be in a terrible pressure cooker the second he accepts the Bama job. Is it worth it? They can hire Bill Belichick or dig up Bear but I don't think ANYBODY will be able to come close to replicating Saban's success at Alabama. 6 titles in 12 years? In TODAYS environment? Saban is already hinting thats why he retired. BAMA fans will tell you of course that their program is so great that they could hire Watson Brown and not miss a beat. Personally I think Bama is going to see a slide toward the other end of the bell curve. It's inevitable, and I for one will be happy to see those folks eat a nice helping of "CROW" for the next few years.
Best case scenario for them is doing what Ohio State did. Milk every ounce of the Saban era that you have left, but eventually you bounce back to reality. By no means bad, but definitely not so much better than everyone else. They could also fall off a cliff if they hire a complete dud. We'll see.
Or in our case, the guy after that and the guy after that and the guy after that or the guy after that.
Rumor is that they are kicking the tires in Napier. He’s from the Saban Tree, and he is incredibly organized and prepared. His buy-out is manageable l Update: I misread the rumor. They are not kicking the tires on Napier, they’re just kicking Napier.
