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Saban must put together numerous new pieces

When the preseason rankings are released next month, there is no doubt that Alabama will be at the top.

For the second time as Crimson Tide head coach, Nick Saban took a team to the national championship after not winning the Southeastern Conference title last year. Alabama defeated LSU for the 2011 national championship and Georgia for the 2017 national crown.

Nick Saban addresses the media during SEC football media day at the College Football Hall of Fame.
Nick Saban addresses the media during SEC football media day at the College Football Hall of Fame. (Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports)

So, Saban is expected to snap his fingers and have the Crimson Tide back in the College Football Playoff this season. However, one needs to look at the makeup of both the Alabama coaching staff and roster.

There are six new assistant coaches, including all three coordinators – Michael Locksley on offense, Tosh Lupoi on defense and Jeff Banks with special teams. Just three starters are back on defense – none in the secondary. Finally, no one knows the identity of the Crimson Tide starting quarterback.

After watching Kirby Smart have the best recruiting class in the country at Georgia, Saban restructured his staff. Saban wanted better recruiters.

“You all know we’ve had a tremendous amount of staff change this year,” said Saban at SEC Media Days in Atlanta on Wednesday. “I am pleased with the transition. The players have responded from a relationship standpoint with all of these new coaches.

“The coaches have done a very good job buying into the things we want to do and how we want to do them. Also, this is one of the better recruiting staffs we’ve had.”

Saban admitted that there is playing time for many individuals who have not logged meaningful snaps in a SEC game. Alabama possesses many talented newcomers. But, Saban wants to see how these players perform in the games.

“We had ten guys sign NFL contracts,” Saban said. “There will be a lot of opportunities for a lot of young players at every position. How these young players develop is yet to be determined.”

Saban shed no light on the quarterback situation. Jalen Hurts has lost just two games in two seasons as the Crimson Tide starting quarterback. Tua Tagovailoa replaced Hurts at halftime of the national title game and rallied Alabama to an overtime victory.

“(Media) has created a quarterback controversy,” Saban said. “It’s still to be determined who is going to play quarterback for Alabama.”

Two SEC first-year head coaches addressed the media before Saban on Wednesday – Mississippi State’s Joe Moorhead and Tennessee’s Jeremy Pruitt. Moorhead was the offensive coordinator at Penn State last season, while Pruitt was Saban’s defensive coordinator.

Moorhead and Pruitt are inheriting totally different situations. Dan Mullen, who went to Florida, left Moorhead a team which will be ranked in the top 20 to start the year. Pruitt is taking over for the fired Butch Jones, who won no SEC games last season with the Vols.

Mississippi State returns a large amount of experience on both sides of the ball. Nick Fitzgerald is one of the best dual-threat quarterbacks in the conference.

“We have great leadership across the board in all three phases,” said Moorhead, who has been a head coach at FCS school Fordham. “We have a lot of starters returning and a lot of production coming back. So, that has elevated the level of expectations for us. That is fine.”

Moorhead knows the recent history of Bulldogs football. Mississippi State went to eight straight bowls under Mullen. However, the Bulldogs have been a middle of the pack SEC team.

“We have had one winning SEC record in the last 15 years,” Moorhead said. “We want to make sure we’re competing in conference play on a weekly basis and give ourselves a chance to win a conference championship.

“The Egg Bowl Trophy is not here. We’ve never won a SEC championship. We have never competed for a national championship. Part of our task as a staff is to elevate this program, which has a very solid foundation, from good to great.”

Tennessee has become a second-division team in the SEC. The Volunteers have one winning conference record in the last ten years. Tennessee has not won a SEC championship in 20 seasons. Pruitt is not going to get things turned around immediately.

“Our No. 1 goal is to build a championship program,” Pruitt said. “To do that, it takes commitment and it takes resources. The commitment is there. The Tennessee fan base is hungry. You can feel the passion. We are adding facilities.”

Pruitt feels one of the best resources is new athletic director Philip Fulmer, who won SEC and national titles in 1998. Pruitt has also put together a staff which is used to winning championships.

“A good part for me is that if I have a question, I can walk 30 feet down the hall and ask (Fulmer),” Pruitt said. “Then, there have been 13 times some member of our staff has been on a national championship staff.”

Pruitt does not know why the Vols have been also-rans in the SEC over the past ten years. He simply wants to get the program headed in the right direction.

“I wasn’t at Tennessee the last ten years,” Pruitt said. “I’ve been here for six months. Right now, everybody involved in the program are running in the same direction and we’re running as fast as we can.”

Missouri coach Barry Odom concluded the Wednesday activities. Midway through last season, it was not known if Odom was going to be around for the 2018 season. The Tigers were 1-5 in the first half of their schedule a year ago. Missouri then won six straight games.

“I wouldn’t want anybody to start 1-5,” Odom said. “That’s not a lot of fun or healthy for anybody. But, we were getting close. We just weren’t playing consistent enough to win a football game. But, our guys stayed the course.”

Former LSU assistant and Tennessee head coach Derek Dooley is Odom’s new offensive coordinator. Dooley will benefit from an offense which returns ten starters. Of course, the leader of that group is quarterback Drew Lock, a projected first-round 2019 NFL draft pick.

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