Saban's view on Golding

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There has been a lot of talk about how hard Nick Saban had to work to keep Pete Golding in-house and that he is seen as a rapid riser in the industry. Can you dive a little deeper into what his true impact is and why Saban is so high on him? I have this weird sneaking suspicion in the end it could be Golding who takes over once our Dark Lord retires. Thanks!

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Nick Saban is a master motivator, he possesses several qualities that make him a natural CEO-type leader and he is perhaps the greatest recruiter college football has ever seen. But, at heart, Saban is a football nerd. He genuinely enjoys talking football, teaching the game and learning the game. I could go on and on about the sort of test he puts candidates to join his program through. Once, in an interview for an off-the-field role, Saban put a candidate on the board as soon as he arrived at his house. There wasn’t a formal interview first, it was straight to the board to size him up. Saban had the candidate diagram plays and then Saban would throw different scenarios at him to see how he would handle it. It was a sort of cat-and-mouse game, and Saban was using the board work to determine how this particular candidate would fit on his staff.

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Back in February, when it was becoming clear that Alabama was going to hold off overtures toward Golding from programs like Oklahoma, The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman had an outstanding look at Golding and specifically how he came up in the game proving himself on the board. He was comfortable diagramming plays and coming up with answers on the fly when coaches asked what he’d do to counter this or that. He was more than just comfortable. He thrived in that environment. Imagine then how impressed Saban must’ve been when he put Golding to the test. The football nerd in Saban must have gone into overdrive. Then Golding proved himself in his first year with the Crimson Tide when, during the season, he essentially began calling the defense instead of defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi. Then you add in Golding’s ability to build relationships as a recruiter, and it’s easy to see why Saban was willing to do whatever he had to do to keep Golding, including naming him Alabama’s defensive coordinator.

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