re: Coaching Changes for Alabama(Analysts edition!!!)

TWatts, 6:45 pm:

quote:

---

• Been doing some digging today and had a couple good sources tell me that Eddie Gran is a name to watch closely as a possible addition to Saban's staff. No position was mentioned but a quick look at his bio shows a heavy history with RBs and special teams. So from a fit standpoint it would make sense. One of the sources went so far as to say he would be willing to bet Gran ends up at Alabama.

After hearing his name I made some calls and college coaches apparently love the guy and respect him a lot. Current and former Southern coaches in fact had nothing but good things to say. That is usually a good sign. Gran was recently offensive coordinator at Kentucky but has also been at Florida State, Auburn, Tennessee and Ole Miss among others so he's been around the SEC a lot.

• There's a chance we hear something definite tomorrow (or sometime tonight) on Doug Marrone. All signs point to Alabama finalizing a deal with him to come to Alabama. And it could be final and we just don't know it yet. As we noted yesterday Marrone became the top target for Saban for the OL position and it makes a lot of sense especially with O'Brien and Marrone being close since their time together at GA Tech.

• As we've noted a few times Bill O'Brien is on the job already. Not sure if UA plans to announce officially or not. It's possible they do all the hiring at once but we are told he's had an office since last week and we know he's contacting recruits and has met with some of the players, who I'm told have been very impressed so far.

As always we will keep you posted as we hear more.

---

Gran is an excellent RB coach and well-liked recruiter with a lot of good ties, including FL. Great replacement for Huff.