Before the Rose Bowl, Saban explains why he hired a former Michigan coach as a “special assistant.”
Nick Saban has had a busy two weeks, despite the fact that Alabama football had a break between its SEC Championship victory and the start of Rose Bowl practices last Saturday.
In addition to recruiting, coaches are utilizing the transfer portal and finishing up any unfinished holiday shopping. However, this year, the head coach of the Crimson Tide had one more item on his list. Saban required a helper who was familiar with his next opponent, No. 1 Michigan.
George Helow, a former Wolverines staff member, was added to Saban’s postseason staff, the coach announced on Monday.
Every year that the team has advanced to the Playoffs, Saban claimed, “we’ve tried to bring somebody in… somebody to do a little extra work that has good experience.” “And being able to provide us with a thorough scouting report of what we need to know once we get off the road.” So that’s the idea, to kind of add a special assistant to me, if you will, so that when I get off the road, he or she can catch me up on things.
Helow’s hiring was first announced by The Athletic on December 14, a few days after Coleman Hutzler, the outside linebackers coach and coordinator for Alabama’s special teams, accepted the position of defensive coordinator at Mississippi State. Although Saban confirmed Helow and Hutzler will be on Alabama’s staff at least through January 1, the Bulldogs have officially announced the hire.
Helow played linebacker for Ole Miss as a walk-on. During Alabama’s 2012 BCS Championship-winning campaign, he worked as an intern in the weight room and later as a defensive coordinator under Kirby Smart. Helow then served as a graduate assistant at Florida State in 2013 and went on to work as a linebackers coach at Michigan in 2021 and 2022. He also had stints at Georgia, Colorado State, and Maryland.
The previous season, Helow, 36, was not on any staff; Chris Partridge took his place. But in the midst of a scandal involving sign-stealing, Jim Harbaugh shook up and scrutinized his coaching staff, and Partridge was fired in November. According to The Athletic, Patridge “was one of the coaches who helped” Connor Stalions, a recruiting analyst who traveled the nation for thousands of miles to track down and interpret potential opponents for Michigan.
“I don’t have time to hire someone right now or even to consider doing my due diligence in that regard. When questioned about Helow permanently replacing Hutzler, Saban responded, “We’re focused on what we got to do right now.”
With the hire, people on social media have made jokes about how Saban is attempting to recreate some of the Stallion magic. When questioned in October about the Stalions purchasing tickets to the 2021 SEC Championship, which featured Alabama defeating Georgia, Saban said he didn’t “have a lot of background” on the scandal and declined to comment.
Actually, it’s just another instance of Alabama’s hiring practices in action, in addition to Saban’s explainer. Saban has outlined his plan to bring on bright, young employees as graduate assistants so they can assess candidates internally and are familiar with future openings. On The Pat McAfee Show, Saban made light of his 2017 plan for Dan Lanning, pointing out that Kirby Smart and Georgia were quicker.
