Working for Saban not for everyone
The 2014 summer football camp startled Tosh Lupoi. He had just joined the Alabama football staff, and the camp included intense preparation and an intense workload. The training room filled up rather quickly.
The camp was for kids. Including some as young as 7 years old.
Welcome to Nick Saban’s world.
“One of the first times I really questioned if I belonged here,” said Lupoi, now Saban’s defensive coordinator. “I was used to a kids camp moreso using water balloons and obstacle courses. I quickly learned
that we’re going to approach everything here with the same attack, the same respect, the same preparation.”
Be it coaching Bama superstars or summercamp boys, Saban is unchanged. His consistency. His demands. His approach. His standards.
That’s the challenge facing Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl on Saturday. A Bama dynasty built with do-your-job dogmatism. A Crimson Tide machine that replaces coaches as often as it replaces quarterbacks and defensive tackles. Except for the man in charge.
Lupoi, 39, is the longest-tenured assistant coach on Saban’s staff. Lupoi is in his fourth season. Six of the 10 Bama assistants are in their first year. Some leave to become head coaches, as offensive coordinator Mike Locksley will, after the playoffs, at Maryland. Some leave to become coordinators. Some leave because they can’t handle the intensity that doesn’t slack even for 7-yearolds.
“For coaches and players at Alabama, it’s not for everybody,” Lupoi said Wednesday during Orange Bowl interviews. “But it’s certainly for me.”
The demands include time, preparation and the ability to react to changes, like a Kyler Murray
offense. Individualism is not highly prized by Saban.
“We've been very fortunate to have some outstanding assistant coaches, and they've done a really good job for us,” Saban said. “And I think because of the success that we've been able to sustain, obviously they work hard, as I worked hard when I was an assistant, so you could have the next opportunity, and we're certainly always happy for them, that they have the opportunities to go on and be head coaches.
“I think that you love continuity on your staff, but I always look at this as a challenge and an opportunity to add new energy, new enthusiasm, new ideas to your staff. We don't change our program. We don't hire people to come in and be independent contractors and do what they want to do. They sort of have to buy into what we do, but the new ideas, the new energy and enthusiasm that they bring is always very helpful to improving our program.”
Locksley is Saban’s sixth offensive coordinator in eight years, and soon there will be a seventh.
Brian Daboll (2017) left to become the Buffalo Bills’ offensive coordinator. Steve Sarkisian (one game, 2016 national title game) left to become the Atlanta Falcons’ offensive coordinator. Lane Kiffin (2014-16) left to become head coach at Florida Atlantic. Doug Nussmeier (2012-13) left to become offensive coordinator at Michigan. Jim McElwain (2008-11) left to become head coach at Colorado State.
Locksley has garnered the best job of all departing Saban offensive coordinators. So some have left for opportunity. Others have left because a little bit of Saban goes a long way.
“I probably would not have been given this (Maryland) opportunity had it not been for the Alabama experience,” Locksley said. “The reason I came here was to get behind the wall, to see why Alabama has been able to sustain the winning and the way they do things.
“When you're around this guy and you get to see the work ethic, you get to see the organization, you get to see the structure, the discipline, how he goes about doing things. It rubs off not just on players but coaches, as well.”
Heck, it rubs off on 7-year-olds.
“They love it,” Lupoi said. “By the end, the kids see it as well. There’s a reward to the hard work they put in.”
Alabama football knows that well.