Jumbo Package: Alabama Fumbling Saban’s Retirement? Not so fast!

Oh man, want some humor to start off your day? Here’s a column from the ever reputable DawgNation, they are celebrating over there to the point of it being cringey, despite the Bulldogs having lost 2 of their last 3 matchups to Saban and Alabama.

“i’m going to do it as long as I’m not an impediment to this program,” Saban said in the fall of 2022, asked how long he would coach.

It was fair to assume there would be some drop off when Saban retired, but it’s hard to imagine DeBoer’s first month on the job going much worse.

To be fair to DeBoer, the program had already dropped off under Saban the past three seasons.

Alabama’s most recent national title came in 2020 amid a shortened season that saw differences from one program to the next in Covid policies.

Georgia ended Saban’s dynasty in 2021, conquering Alabama in the CFP Championship Game by a 33-18 count.

Kirby Smart was recognized atop the SEC when he led UGA to an unprecedented CFP repeat with a 65-7 route over TCU.

Smart then led Georgia to an unprecedented third consecutive undefeated SEC regular season in 2023, capping an SEC-record 29 game win streak.

But Smart didn’t win SEC Coach of the Year honors, much less any national accolades, because voters said “he’s supposed to win.”

That’s why the Bulldogs — not the Tide — were the preseason favorites to win the 2024 national title even before Saban announced his retirement.

The writing was on the wall for Saban’s departure last season.

To be totally frank, I have nothing against UGA as a program. I like Kirby Smart, I’ve been impressed with everything he and the Dogs have done, and the games between them and Bama have seemed clean and classy from their players.

The Dwag fans, though? Man, they’re a pathetic lot, and it’s hilarious.

That said, they aren’t totally wrong that Alabama’s program is still trying to figure things out, even if fumbling is the wrong word.

That month’s been quite a year.

It’s been an intense 31-day span that’s seen a roster of stars swept off to the magic transfer machine.

Those 768-ish hours saw DeBoer build a staff and then saw the centerpiece of it whisked away just weeks later.

Every one of those 46,000-plus minutes have been occupied for the new face of the most visible program in college football.

So, where does that leave everything?

Where exactly is Alabama football after one month of DeBoer?

Frankly, it’s in flux.

At least from an outsider’s perspective, the multi-task effort of untangling 17 years’ worth of the most complexly organized infrastructure while building your own is easily underestimated.

The whiplash of playing for a national title on a Monday to jumping on a Seattle-to-Tuscaloosa plane on Friday to replace an icon is a staggering responsibility.

It’s like juggling seven footballs while playing a game of Jenga on a greased tightrope.

And with everyone watching, waiting and assuming you’ll soon be on the ground covered in Crisco while in a pile of pigskin and wooden blocks.

Casagrande sums everything up in this article pretty well. Alabama has taken some tough hits in the last month, no doubt. That said, Nick Saban had to retire eventually... And when you have had the greatest coach to ever coach the sport, there is no possible way to move on without there being a step back.

For whatever my opinion is worth, I think that Greg Byrne still made the best possible hire as soon as Saban retired. There was no better candidate outside of Kirby Smart leaving his empire. And for DeBoer’s part, he’s done a phenomenal job at holding on to the #2 ranked recruiting class and getting Ryan Williams back into the fold. He’s also put together a defensive staff that is really impressive.

The offensive staff is more up in the air now that Grubb and Huff have left for the pros, unfortunately.

But, all in all, I think Byrne’s swift decision-making and DeBoer’s influence have kept Alabama’s ship righted and chugging forward. The Tide may not be the #1 team in the country year-to-year anymore, but they’re still a top 3 program.

And hey, to be honest, DawgNation was on to something earlier - that has been the case for Alabama ever since the ending of the 2018 season.

Georgia officials confirmed Wednesday’s earlier report by UGASports that specials Teams Coordinator Scott Cochran is no longer part of the football program.

Per Smart in a release to reporters, Cochran resigned to pursue other other opportunities.

Hey, Scott Cochran is available again?! Personally, I’m happy with David Ballou and Alabama’s lack of season-ending injuries, but maybe Cochran could come back for some other kind of role? In any case, Cochran really has had a weird career ever since leaving Alabama. I’m fascinated to see where he goes next and why he left UGA.

Speaking of coaches, the holdovers from Saban’s staff are getting promotions:

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer announced Wednesday that he has retained and promoted both Freddie Roach and Robert Gillespie for his Crimson Tide coaching staff.

“After meeting both of these guys, it was very clear to me that keeping Freddie and G as part of the staff was going to be important to our success,” DeBoer said. “These guys have great relationships with our players, are outstanding recruiters and have proven to be some of the best coaches in the country.”

Who even knows what an assistant or an associate head coach actually means? Does it put Roach and Gillespie above the coordinators? Is there a difference between the two? Teams do it all the time though.... If anyone has any knowledge of what those roles entail outside of their normal position coach duties, feel free to chime in. Regardless, congrats to Roach and Gillespie!

If you like to know the financials, here was Alabama’s athletic department’s numbers from 2023:

Alabama athletics operated in a deficit of about $12.1 million during the 2023 fiscal year, according to Alabama’s NCAA Financial Report obtained via open records request by The Tuscaloosa News.

$14.3 million in gifts collected during the 2023 fiscal year were not expensed in 2022-23 and not included in the report, however, per UA. Otherwise, that would have put Alabama in a surplus.

The Crimson Tide reported $199.9 million in total operating revenues and $212 million in total operating expenses. The 2023 fiscal year ran from July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023.

During the 2022 fiscal year, Alabama reported $214.4 million in total operating revenues and $195.9 million in total operating expenses.

Open the article for a full breakdown of things. But note (because I missed this at first) that the “2023 fiscal year” is really talking about the 2022 season for the Crimson Tide football team. So Alabama made less money from Bowl revenues and such because the Tide did not make the playoffs that season.

Also... What on earth caused the “non-travel related meals” to increase 5x in only one year??

Student-athlete meals (non-travel) saw a jump from $918,301 to $5.89 million.

Okay, this one isn’t Alabama-related, but check this out from the XFL:

This is a fascinating way to handle kickoffs. I’m not saying I think it’s a great solution or anything, but I like that they’re looking at things, and an entire season with 92% of the kicks returned and no injuries is really impressive.