re: Colin Hitschler hired at Bama

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I think Alabama is going to be well coached compared to Saban’s Rolodex running thin at the end for coaches but hard not to wonder how their classes look from their usual star gazing.

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People want to say recruiting and NIL ran Saban off, but if you listen to his comments it was really that he just didn’t have the gas to be deeply involved with all facets of the team week to week. He made a commitment to focusing on the defense more than usual because it was a mess in 2022; his offensive staff really let him down in 2023. He was trying to hire good coaches and they were all concerned about his age. He just couldn’t do the 6 AM to 2 AM the next day work hours anymore. There was no more capacity for his personal work ethic and grind to drag all phases of the game (coaches and players) to a higher level. There was never going to be a 2015 season coaching staff where almost all of them are head coaches now. Those were some of his best teams in the mid-2010s but also probably some of his easier personal coaching jobs because the staff could carry the load. 2023 was probably the most work Saban had put in personally in years and it still wasn’t enough to drag the staff to capable. That’s how he knew it was time to call it quits.