Greg McElroy, Former Alabama Quarterback

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That's Stamps.com Code Program. Alrighty, our number two of our radio program. That's right, it is the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. Just what a wild time in the coaching world. We find out Pete Cowell no longer is going to be the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks. Then two hours later, Nick Saban retires today. Bill Belichick is out of New England. And we're all still awaiting to find out what's going to happen with the future of Jim Harbaugh at Michigan. Now joining us, former Alabama quarterback. Now does a great job. One of the preeminent voices covering college football today.

SEC Network, ESPN. And that's our pal Greg McElroy. Kind enough to join us right now on CBS Sports Radio. Greg, appreciate the time as always. How you been?

I'm good, buddy. Obviously a chaotic couple days, but such is life as the coaching carousel spins. And right now it's spinning pretty quick, that's for sure. What was the first reaction yesterday when you got the alert Nick Saban's walking away as the head football coach of Alabama? A little surprised. You know, there were just things that had transpired this season where you thought it could be the case. I mean, you thought every year for the last handful of years. I mean, there's been evidence of maybe him potentially telling his inner circle this could be it.

It's really been the last three or four years. So it was kind of boy who cried wolf, if you will. It was kind of slow to believe it.

You know, I'll believe it when I see it type of approach. And then he had told people this year that he was a little more tired than usual. And we had just assumed it was because of how hard he had to coach that team to get them where they ultimately got.

So I didn't really put a whole lot into it. And then I found out that within 24 hours of of him announcing his retirement, he had interviewed four different coaches, including two within the last two hours of his employment. He got out of a meeting with another wide receiver coach at about three fifty five p.m. local time and told the team at four o'clock that he would be retiring.

So it was very sudden for all of us, knowing that it sounded like according to my sources down there is business as usual until it wasn't so. But that's coach. I mean, he doesn't want a lot of fanfare.

He just wants to tell the guys that he feels he owes it to. And that's the players and and obviously the other assistant coaches. I know what you said about him getting tired at times this year. You know, we've seen and these guys are getting old. So it's not crazy that they walk away. But we've seen guys like Coach K. Roy Williams recently retire and we thought they still have good years left. Jay Wright was younger. But the feel is a lot of it is because when you're at that legendary status and now it's a new era of college football and college sports where heck, I think there's some good with NIL and the transfer portal.

I'm for it. But when you're at that status and you have to adapt to it, I think it kind of makes it tough when you're used to doing things a certain way. Well, I think it was more about just the just how long the days were. And it's a lot less about the X's and the O's that it is the relationships and constantly having to re recruit your own roster.

I think does kind of wear some of these guys out. And I mean, you think about the NFL, for example, and the Chargers job, for instance, let's say somebody takes the Chargers job. You don't have to re recruit Justin Herbert. He's there, you know, he's under contract.

He's not going anywhere like Keenan Allen's not going anywhere. Now, whoever comes in might ultimately decide to do away with both. But you don't have to get them to play for you on a daily basis. You want to get them to buy in to what you're selling on a daily basis.

So I think that the old way of doing it, look, we we followed coach wherever he wanted us to go. You tell me to do this. Perfect. You tell me to do this. Great.

You want me to jump off a bridge? I'll do that, too. That's fine. I just don't think the modern players like that. And that's not a problem.

That's not a negative. I just think it does wear some of these guys out. And frankly, even the younger coaches, I think that the time line of of how long a lot of these guys will go is going to be considerably cut down, one, because of the money they're getting and two, because of how hard the job is on a weekly basis. Talking to Greg McElroy right now, were you surprised to find out today that Dan Lanning announced that he was staying at Oregon? Because last night, all the speculation that was the first time I thought of. But all the speculation was he was going to be the Alabama head coach.

Yeah, I mean, I thought some of the stuff last night was comical. Knowing knowing a little bit more about about what his contract looks like. And and I've been told not just by Bama, but by A&M and others that have done some due diligence on Dan Lanning. The buyout is prohibitive. Now, if you get a booster that just won't be denied and he wants to cut a massive check, fine, you're going to match wits with with Phil Knight and you're going to match wits with Nike and you're going to have a very expensive tug of war. So, yeah, could something have happened with that?

Sure. But I think now and a lot of programs have kind of gotten to the point where if you start paying the coach too much, then you're taking away from the pool that you'll have as a resource from an NIL standpoint. So you're robbing Peter to pay Paul, which is great, but you still are going to need that money to at some point entice players down the road to potentially play for you. So I don't think Lanning was ever a realistic option, to be honest with you, because I do think his buyout was so extravagant that it just was never going to make sense for anybody. Now, I think the next coach should be Kalen DeBoer.

You know, after the Lanning news today, and I just heard everything you just said, how realistic do you think is Kalen DeBoer in Tuscaloosa? Well, I think he I think they're first of all, I know they're looking at a bunch of different candidates. So anyone that says that, you know, the search has been narrowed down to one, I'm not sure that's necessarily the case.

They're still in the due diligence process. And look, I don't think Greg Byrne, he might have been caught by surprise yesterday. I don't know. Maybe he was, maybe he wasn't. But there was absolutely a plan in place for when that day came. He was hired several years ago and he's kind of played this song and dance for a number of years. Well, is this the year? So if this is the year, now here's our plan of action. And as soon as Coach Saba decided to shut it down and retire, we got to implement that plan of action.

So I think it probably changed on the annual. I would think Kalen DeBoer would would be a real candidate for sure. I mean, what he did at Washington, I think his offensive identity is comparable to what Alabama's used in success in the past. The big question would be fit and familiarity with the southeastern part of the United States, which he's not familiar with. He spent time in the Pacific Northwest, was at Indiana for a bit, and then was at Fresno State for the most part.

So it's not like he is real familiar with the nooks and crannies of the southeast. But then again, in the NL era, I mean, these places have a tendency to recruit themselves. And while you won't necessarily have the skins on the wall that Nick Saban was able to sell as far as first round picks and and accolades and contracts signed in the NFL and the sheer value that he could provide to players from a from a resource standpoint, having the NFL experience that he has, it doesn't necessarily mean that you have to be a perfect and ideal candidate because you have a long track record of success in a particular part of the country.

So it'll be fascinating to watch. I mean, I think Kalen DeBoer would be in the mix. I think anyone that runs that multiple style offense that is not that dissimilar from what Bama's used in the past with success, I think that that can be assumed that they go defense.

You're going to have an NFL style defense. So someone that runs a lot of man, a lot of pattern match coverage, that's probably where you could probably start the start the search. Let's say I made Greg McElroy the AD at Alabama. Who are you hiring?

Who would be number one on your list? Well, I would not reveal that information because I would be in the midst of using leverage against the agents that are trying to use leverage against me. So, you know, I am I privy to information? Sure. So with respect to my sources and with respect to the people I've talked to that are directly involved and the people that are very knowledgeable about the undertakings, I'm going to resist the urge to answer that question, Zach. But I can tell you this, as someone, look, I'm a Bama guy.

It's a remarkably desirable job. And a lot of people have said, well, why would you want to follow Coach Saban? I mean, that just doesn't, who would want to do that?

You'd have to be crazy to do that. But I actually think that the implementation of what Nick Saban's used in the last 15 or 16 years has created great alignment. And I think it's ready-made to succeed in the near future under new leadership because everyone kind of understands, all right, here's how it worked under coach.

And we want this to continue. So let's keep doing what we've always done to support coach. It's just going to be a different coach and a different title that we adhere to. So a lot of people said it's not a desirable spot.

I've been told it's very much a job that people are bending over backwards to try to get. It's just a matter of who they ultimately decide to go after. Two names that have been speculated, I don't know if they're serious legs to it, are Dabo Swinney and James Franklin. I would be no and no on either of them being the next coach of Alabama. Yourself, your thoughts on that?

Yeah, I think that's safe to cross them off the list. Okay, good. I actually said right before we had you on that I would dump that Duke's mayo on my face if James Franklin got the job.

It's amazing. Every time there's a job, I give credit to his agent, every time there's a job open in college football, James Franklin's name just magically appears, but he has his own problems right now at Penn State. All right, let me ask you about Sark. As Greg McElroy is here with us, Quinn Ewers announces he's coming back today.

You have Arch Manning behind him right now. Do you think with Quinn Ewers coming back, does that take Sark out of the Alabama running? I mean, possibly. I mean, he's a name that always is going to pop up until he cashes in big at Texas. I mean, until he has the prohibitive buyout that Dan Lanning has, I mean, people are going to call. I mean, he'd be foolish not to at least, hey Steve, any interest for every job? So I think that he, look, I think Quinn Ewers coming back, does that change his opinion?

Perhaps. But Sark is in a remarkably good spot. I mean, Texas is a great place.

They have tremendous support. He's already been to the playoff. He's ushering in a new era in the SEC, sans Saban. So right now, if you're going to list the top coaches in the SEC at the moment, I mean, it'd be Kirby Smart at the top, but Steve Sarkisian wouldn't be too far down the list, depending on you have two, three, four, what have you.

He's in the top tier. So he'd be a highly desirable candidate, but at the same time, I mean, the feelings have to be mutual. So I could see Sark certainly engaging in conversation, but I think Texas would probably have a very difficult time letting him go. How much of a say, like Saban showed up today at what, 8 a.m. or something like that I saw, how much of a say will Saban have in this next head coach?

716 a.m. to be exact. The same time he showed up every day for the last 17 years. So a welcome to retirement coach, business as usual. I do think he wants to help in the transition and whoever it ends up going to, I think he's going to be there as a resource. But at the same time, I mean, he's not going to try to dictate and delegate how that guy runs the organization.

I just don't get the sense that that's the way he wants to do it because he I mean, he didn't want any help from any outsiders when he was putting his fingerprints on the program. So I think he would pay that forward. But I mean, he cares a lot about the place. He cares about the fact that, I mean, his daughter has a degree from there. He's been there 17 years. Him and Miss Terry have developed tremendous relationships in the community.

So I do think he feels as if it's his duty to help. But I don't get the sense that he'll endorse a candidate or or have an agenda as it relates to the hiring process. This is the creme de la creme job in college football, in my opinion, Alabama.

We know that there's going to be a lot of people that are interested. Is there a candidate out there in your mind or a name out there that you're like, hmm, really, people aren't talking about this person, but you think it would be a good hire? Well, there's a handful, but it just it just depends on the fit because there's a lot of great coaches. I mean, there's a lot of great coaches out there, and I don't think all would work at Alabama. Full disclosure, same reason why not all work at Florida or Auburn or Georgia. There are just some places that are a little bit different. And and frankly, I mean, there's not a lot that would work at Michigan and and SC.

I mean, that's a pretty finite list. So it would depend a little bit on on the personality traits of the coach, someone that's very comfortable in their own skin, someone that has very thick skin, I might add, because there will be negativity that comes with this hiring. You can go hire Bill Belichick and people are going to be mad.

I mean, it's just the reality. People will feel as though it's a step down, fair or unfair. That's just it's going to be a polarizing hire regardless of who it ends up being. So whoever whoever gets it's going to have to be, I think, thick skinned, be capable of running their own program the way they see it to be needing to be run. But at the same time, paying homage and respect to what's worked there for 17 years.

Yeah. And that's a delicate balance, I think, because you don't want to completely go in and start flipping tables and say we do things differently now. It's worked for a very long time with unprecedented consistency and success.

So you want to use some of the things that have worked and apply some of your own identity to the program as well. But if you know, I mean, it's all the usual suspects. I mean, everyone that's ever listed for any opening, I would think would be a candidate here as well. But there are some, a la James Franklin, Dabo Swinney, that don't feel like an ideal fit. Just just given the personalities and and what I think Bama probably needs to reach its peak under the next regime.

Yeah, I think the fan reaction point that you just made is a great one. And that's why I go back to Kalen DeBoer. The guy is one at every level. I know he doesn't have SEC roots, but I think he also has thick enough skin and his personality.

He just doesn't seem like he's fazed by anything where he could take some of that initial criticism at first. Well, it's coming, whether you like it or not, because he's not Nick Saban. And you could talk to people in the building right now and they're going to say, doesn't matter who it is, the guy could be the next Vince Lombardi, but he's not going to do it the way it's been done all the time. So it's it's probably going to be a little different for folks. The press conferences will be different. The messaging will be different. Maybe the offensive identity will be different. Maybe the defensive identity will be different. I mean, all those things will probably make people a little uncomfortable just because it's like, well, it's worked this way for a long time.

Why would we change? But there's not another, you know, plug and play Nick Saban out there outside of Kirby Smart, who's probably the closest one. But I can't imagine he'd be willing to leave his alma mater in favor of a new challenge. I mean, he's already got it rolling there at Georgia.

It is among the highest paid coaches in the sport, so he's not leaving. So I think it really it really comes down to whether or not the the coach will be able to handle some of the initial criticism. And in the event in which the team loses two games in the season, that's going to be really tough for a lot of people to swallow.

That's going to be a that's going to be a hard thing. The expectation is perfection. And Coach Saban led us to to having that expectation for his program. It's unreachable. It's unreachable and it's it's improbable annually. But the good news is the 12 team playoff does come into the forefront next year. So Bama with the roster that they currently have assembled, I'm not saying they're shoe in.

No one's a shoe in. But the access to the playoff next year will be as it's be as accessible as it's ever been. So the margin for error in the regular season is not as thin as it once was either. Could you see maybe this decision by Saban to retire, maybe change what Harbaugh is assumed to probably be happening, where he's going to go to the NFL just in terms of he could really be the next face of college football? Because still in college, the faces are the coaches more so than the players.

I can't imagine Jim Harbaugh worries about outside perception. I mean, having been around him for a long time and known him, gosh, 13, 14, 15 years by now, he's just not the type that cares about being the alpha dog. As far as how he's perceived, he wants to be the alpha dog on a daily basis. Sure, he's a crazy competitor and wants to win in everything he does.

But I do think there's some closure that happened on Monday night. And I think that there's a real possibility that when we fast forward three, four weeks, the challenge that he might ultimately have in the NFL, one that escaped him five yards away from the Super Bowl, that I think might be what's driving him. I think he cares a lot more about winning a Super Bowl than being the face of college football, because the face gets you nothing. But winning a Super Bowl, that would put him in a hierarchy of coaches alongside Pete Carroll, who recently shut it down.

I mean, there's not a lot of guys that have won a national championship and a Super Bowl, only one. So I think that pursuit probably moves him a little bit more than having people looking up at him as the most established head coach in the sport. I know Lane Kiffin was at Alabama, Greg McElroy as the offensive coordinator. A lot of fans have been throwing that name out there. Do you see that as a fit or do you think, okay, Greg McElroy, that Lane Kiffin is going to be staying at Ole Miss?

No, I think he'd be a good fit, but I don't see him as a realistic option at this point. It was kind of an unceremonious end to his tenure in Tuscaloosa as the offensive coordinator. He actually coached his final game in the semi-final game, a game that they were victorious, and he took the FAU job prior to the national championship and didn't call plays in the 2016 championship game.

They lost that game. Steve Sarkisian actually called the plays. So I think just the way things ended for Lane Kiffin in Tuscaloosa would probably eliminate him from consideration at this point. And then the last thing I'll ask you, just 20, 30 years from now, you're talking about Nick Saban, your experience with him. Just what do you want people to know about your time with the ball coach?

I mean, there's just so many things and, you know, he gets really mis-portrayed, you know, probably his own doing, but it's good cinema. I mean, you look at him on the sideline, he's losing his mind throwing headsets. I mean, that's, you know, we like that. Even when they're up 30 in a national championship game. That's my favorite part about Saban. Well, it's highly entertaining, but I want people to know that there was a much softer side to him and a guy that always seemed to find a way to kind of bring you back to level ground. So for instance, I mean, there are ebbs and flows in every career, right?

I mean, there's great games, there's terrible games. And his goal as a coach and making sure that, hey, you're never too high with the highs, never too low with the lows. So when you have a tough day, he's going to build you up and give you confidence. When you have a good day, he's going to bring you back down to earth a little bit. And he's going to nitpick the mistakes that you made. I'll be at maybe a few, but he's going to nitpick on those and bring you back down to earth so that you have a steady and consistent approach to towards the chase of excellence.

And that's how he lives. I mean, never too high with the highs, never too low with the lows. You can even see it in this press conferences after the team wins, but plays poorly. He's talking about how great they did, but then go out there and win by 40.

He's talking about how many mistakes they made. That's just the way he is. And that's why his team's been so crazy consistent, Zach. I mean, 16 straight years, 10 plus win seasons.

It's unheard of. In today's day and age in a conference as deep and as challenging as the SEC to win that many games on a consistent basis is absurd. So I hope people realize that there's a lot more to the man that's roaming the sideline throwing his headphones. I mean, he's the best coach, I think, of all time at the college level.

He can make a strong case. He's the best coach all time anywhere. And I'm really privileged and grateful to have had four years with him.

It was an invaluable, invaluable part of my life and really formative years that have kind of changed my outlook on the world and have allowed me to become more successful professionally as a father, as all these other things. So outside of my dad, he's the biggest influence in my life. And I'm very, very grateful to have spent time with him the way I did. He's one of the preeminent voices in college football right now, the former Alabama quarterback that has a great job, ESPN, SEC Network. He is Greg McElroy. Greg, appreciate the time all throughout the season. Thanks so much. Thanks, Zach.

We'll see you, buddy. Around New Year's, we get a little obsessed with changing ourselves and forgetting the things we're already doing right, like taking our supplements every morning or scheduling me time into our day. Therapy helps you recognize those victories and keep up the good work in the New Year without changing everything. BetterHelp offers affordable online therapy so you can try New Year's same you with BetterHelp. Visit betterhelp.com slash grow today to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHelp H-E-L-P dot com slash grow.