IMO, McElwain is a solid football coach and I think he can be successful in the SEC if he is willing to invest 2-3 years minimum. The primary concern I would have in hiring him would be that he's had 3 jobs in 4 years ..... coaching changes are the norm in CFB, but even in the world of CFB, that's unusual. Overall, I think it's a good hire for UA. It remains to be seen whether Saban will put Pendry on a leash and allow McElwain a free rein. But I can easily visualize McElwain ramping-up much quicker than MA, thus no need for such oversight. I always felt MA was in a little over his head from the start ...... not from a football intelligence perspective, rather from the political perspective. A program like Alabama, under a results-driven taskmaster like Saban, is a questionable environment for such a young seedling to establish firm roots. My source knows Steele and indicates he has received an offer. Says that Steele "can be a HC" if he chooses to consider the offer. No doubt, with it being this close to NSD, Saban would request and receive a comittment from Steele to wait until after NSD to make such an announcement. A very respectable move by Steele, IMO. Besides, assuming the comment about the offer is true, I don't think it matters ..... even if Steele made such an announcement today, I doubt it would affect bama's recruiting class at all. The hay is in the barn on this class, and it's a great class for Saban's first full recruiting year at Alabama.
Not sure why that is a concern. He took two promotions and was working his way up when the Raiders cleaned house. He then had to get another job. So this move is similar to going to the Raiders, and it wasnt as if he wanted to change jobs. Not really as bad as it sounds.
true, but I'm thinking of it more from the relationship perspective. You want a candidate that has built some deep recruiting relationships with a network of HS coaches .... the kind of relationships that will survive a physical move and still remain fruitful. It's hard to do that when you're jumping around.
I agree with that. But I think the head coach does the relationship building and then brings in his OC to mingle with them. If anything, I bet the high school coaches respect an older guy more, whether they should or not.
