re: Official Coaching Search Thread: The Search Is Over

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There’s rarely a dull moment with the Alabama football program, and that was further proven Saturday when ESPN reported Steve Sarkisian is set to join the Crimson Tide staff.

Here’s what we know as of late Saturday evening about the Sarkisian situation as well as a couple other staff-related tidbits:

— AL.com can’t confirm that Sarkisian has been hired as of this moment. However, a couple sources mentioned him as a possibility for the offensive coordinator job on Friday and I can confirm that he was in Tuscaloosa today per sources. Sarkisian, who was an analyst at Alabama in 2016 and then briefly the Tide’s OC before ultimately leaving for the Atlanta Falcons, was fired by the Falcons Dec. 31.

— Sarkisian wasn’t the only big name coach in town today. Notre Dame offensive coordinator Chip Long was also in Tuscaloosa today, according to sources. It looks like he could join the staff in some capacity even if/when Sarkisian is hired as offensive coordinator. A Birmingham native, Long has been the offensive coordinator at Notre Dame the last two years after one season as the OC at Memphis.

— One other interesting staff-related note: While it has been reported elsewhere that Butch Jones was set to join Mike Locksley’s staff at Maryland, sources have said that Jones is still currently working for Alabama. AL.com previously reported that while there was a good chance Jones could end up at Maryland, it was still possible Jones could end up staying at Alabama if he was promoted to an on-field job. There are multiple on-field jobs open on the staff right now after Locksley, (wide receivers coach Josh Gattis,) quarterbacks coach Dan Enos and offensive line coach Brent Key all departed the program after the season.

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