Who follows Doug Nussmeier?

The Birmingham News has a few possibilities for your consideration. As you know, Nuss left the Capstone to take the offensive coordinator position at Michigan. Alabama fans wish him all the best.

Now the speculation and debate rages over who Saban taps to run his offense in the 2014 season and beyond.

The most frequent—and most polarizing—names being thrown out there are former head coaches Lane Kiffin and Rick Neuheisel. Both were fired from west coast schools and both have a good head for offense. But the chances of Saban going in one of those directions is not very high.

For starters, Kiffin likes the camera and the microphone, and Saban doesn’t let assistants deal with the media. Neuheisel likes the media too, but he hasn’t coached in what? Two years?

Then there are the ego issues. Both of these guys have been head coaches at big schools. They tend to be outspoken in their convictions and clashes in the conference room are a near certainty when you have a brash, outspoken assistant at odds with a head coach who is notorious for his control freak persona.

No, the most likely hire will have us all saying “Who the hell is that?” And send us all rushing to Google to see if we can find out if he coached well at East Popcorn State. Or, it will be someone he’s already familiar with, like Billy Napier and Mike Groh. The News mentions them as candidates.

Saban doesn’t go for big, splashy hires when it comes to key assistant positions. He prefers to look deep, find a solid candidate from a mid-tier school that he can work with, and give the man a chance to show his stuff.

I could be dead wrong in my assessment and Saban could announce an earthshaking hire of his new OC. But I doubt it.

Either way—we will know in a few days. We need those extra boots on the ground for recruiting.