Steve Sarkisian's job description at
Alabamaisn't exactly clear. The possibilities, though, are limitless.
USC's former head coach was hired last week as an offensive consultant. He won't be able to recruit or coach on the field. He probably won't even be paid much.
But there's a reason Nick Saban has grabbed the game by the throat. He's ruthless, innovative and relentless. Any edge he can gain is worth it. Saban also has a budget (hint: it's unlimited) that allows him to hire former head coaches -- there are five total on the staff -- to break down the game on a molecular level.
"How they've set it up is unbelievable," said Eric Kiesau, a long-time college football assistant who was hired last year by Saban solely to install no-huddle concepts.
Kiesau, a veteran assistant, had done just that previously as a no-huddle specialist at
Kansas, Cal and
Washington (under Sarkisian).
"He knows the game is changing," Kiesau said of Saban. "He knows the tempo, high-octane offenses, that's where the game is going. He wanted to do just the tempo part of it, but he didn't want to change the brand."
Kiesau provided a rare behind-the-scenes look at a deep Alabama roster of analysts and consultants ranging in number from 10-15 just to support the nine Alabama assistants and Saban.
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"It's a whole other section of the building," Kiesau said. "There are guys, like students, who played football in high school and love Alabama. They watch recruiting film all day long. Then you have your top guys. They start making cut-ups so the assistant coaches are more efficient with their time."
The "consultants," of which Sark is now a member, are older experienced football minds. Sark joins Mike Locksley on the offensive side. Locksley was
Maryland's offensive coordinator and interim coach last year. Now he is reportedly making $45,000 a year from Alabama.
The rest of these salaries, Kiesau said, are "offset" by any money owed by the coaches' former employers. Locksley was the 14th highest paid assistant in the country last year making $900,000. Sarkisian was making $4.25 million a year at the time of his firing in 2015.
Saban's shadow staff is both admired and reviled. He was the first coach to bolster his on-field staff with such a decorated think tank. But those schools without the money to hire extra staffers believe Alabama has a huge competitive advantage.
In a sense, Sark should be grateful he's working at all. He's currently suing USC after his firing and has been in rehab for substance abuse.
Because of that current situation, veteran headhunter Chuck Neinas said, "it would be difficult" for Sarkisian to be hired anywhere else at the moment. Well, anywhere except Alabama.
Neinas Sports Services is one of the oldest search firms in the business. (Alabama used Neinas during failed talks with Rich Rodriguez in 2007. He had no role in the school hiring Saban.)
That in no way suggests Sarkisian shouldn't be hired. The Americans with Disabilities Act
does not allow for discrimination of job applicants.
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Mike Leach was hired at
Washington Statedespite an ongoing lawsuit against his old employer,
Texas Tech. Former
Baylor coach Art Briles says he expects to coach next year despite what an independent report found to be a lax response to sexual assault claims from female students.
"[Leach's situation] did come up in coaching searches," Neinas said. "I know there were some that were worried about that."
Not enough to ignore Leach's .661 career winning percentage, though. But Sarkisian has won more than seven games only twice in a head coaching career of six-plus years. He is considered a talented quarterback teacher and noted offensive mind. Sark and now co-worker Lane Kiffin once called plays together at USC under Pete Carroll.
"He's going through some personal things himself," Saban told reporters last week. "We thought it would be a good thing for our organization. To make a contribution to being an analyst would be a real positive. He understands the consequences that he deals with professionally if he has any issues or problems."
Sark's duties behind the Alabama curtain will probably never be fully known. Only after the fact do we know part of Kiesau's duties included reducing play calls from 7-9 words to 2-3 words in the hurry-up no-huddle.
"Everything has to be approved through [Saban] first ...," Kiesau said.
Alabama has become sort of a rehab itself -- for a coaches' image.
Those other four former head coaches on the staff?
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Think what having Saban on your resume means. Kiesau has now rebounded to become
Fresno State's offensive coordinator after spending just one year in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
Describing the initial interview process, he said, "Saban called and flew me out there. I showed them my presentation. Saban's biggest concern was he didn't want to change the system. He just wanted to eliminate the huddle. ...
"I think the biggest fear in his mind was, 'I don't want to turn into
Oregon. That's not us. We're still going to run the ball and have two backs in the backfield.'"
Strange, for Saban who once
compared hurry-up offenses to chain smoking.
But the results of the no-huddle were obvious. While the average number of plays stayed static (about 72 per game), Alabama achieved a powerful offensive balance.
Derrick Henry won the Heisman Trophy as a workhorse running back. Quarterback Jake Coker also became a reliable weapon as the season wore on.
In 1,088 plays, Kiesau said the Tide didn't huddle once. The look changed. The result didn't as Bama won a fourth championship in seven years.
"Alabama has the money; it has the resources," Kiesau said. "All they care about is winning and there is no cost to winning."
Through a spokesman, Alabama AD Bill Battle did not respond to a request for comment.
