re: Bama Football Tidings

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When Nick Saban dialed up Frank Wilson to ask about one of his assistants late in 2017, the UTSA head coach knew he was about to lose one of the best coaches he’s ever worked with.

“I’d like to visit with him,” Saban said. “What are your thoughts on him?”

Wilson had been friends with Saban since the Alabama coach’s days at LSU when the UTSA head man was coaching high school ball in New Orleans and would work the Tigers’ summer camps.

“I think if you interview him, he’s going to be the guy you’re gonna want to hire,” Wilson replied.

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Golding traveled to Tuscaloosa the second Sunday in December 2017 — a week after the SEC Championship Game between Georgia and Auburn. He borrowed a sports coat from another UTSA coach for his meeting with Saban. The interview started around 2 p.m. Golding was a little nervous because of the magnitude of Crimson Tide football and its coach, who had won five national titles. And it wasn’t just Saban in the room. There were a half-dozen ’Bama staffers taking part in the interview.

By 2:15, Golding had settled into his comfort zone. That’s when Saban had him up on the board. Golding, relying on the running checklist he always jots down on the left side of the dry-erase board, diagrammed X’s and O’s with marker in hand, walking Saban through his defensive system. He ran through its Day 1, base installation to the nuances of the answers for each play an offense might throw at it to each player’s responsibility for every possible formation it could face. Over the course of the next five hours, it flowed into a natural conversation, with both coaches bouncing ideas off each other, explaining what they liked best.

At one point during the afternoon, Saban ducked out of the room and told a senior staffer that it was as impressive as any coaching interview he’d ever had in Tuscaloosa. He had Golding on the board for five hours. Golding never did make it back to UTSA campus. Saban hired the 34-year-old that night as his 10th assistant, designating him as the Tide’s co-defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach. Golding’s experience working with the secondary was key in Saban’s eyes as a counterbalance to Tosh Lupoi, who had just been elevated to defensive coordinator.

And now, one year later in the midst of massive staff turnover and after the 44-16 loss to Clemson in the national title game, Saban has promoted Golding to defensive coordinator.

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