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.

Alabama’s Doug Nussmeier in rare radio interview (with audio)

Alabama head football coach Nick Saban notoriously famously refuses to grant media access to his assistant coaches, raising the ire of reporters, columnists and editors across the Southeastern Conference Landscape.

Maybe he’s softening with age and experience, as incoming offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier gave an amazingly candid interview to Mobile’s WNSP 105.5 during the station’s Morning Sports Center broadcast this morning.

A few snippets:

“When you look at [AJ McCarron] and the progression he made from the start of the season last season to the end and where he started spring football, where he ended spring football, he just continues to get better and better each day. I really believe he's got a lot of upside still left in him and some things technically he can work on. I think you'll see his game continue to elevate."

"I've never been fortunate enough to be around [an offensive line] like this. Really good group of guys. Extremely hard workers. They're big… physical. Very, very excited about what they bring to the table."

Nussmeier is also scheduled to speak at the DEX Imaging L’Arche Football Dinner tomorrow night in Mobile.

The interview with WNSP is immediately below.

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In rare public setting, Bama OC Doug Nussmeier set to speak in Mobile

The keynote speaker at the DEX Imaging L'Arche Football Dinner in Mobile on May 31 will be LSU head coach Les Miles. But the real jewel of the program might be the fact that brand new Alabama offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier is also a confirmed speaker at the annual charity event.

Proceeds from the event will benefit L'Arche Mobile, a community in which people with mental handicaps live with non-handicapped people in permanent homes.

Head coach Nick Saban has a long-standing policy against allowing assistant coaches to speak publicly or conduct interviews with the media. The “one voice” philosophy grates against the nerves of everyone who covers Alabama football, but it is what it is.

At the L’Arche dinner, both could happen. Coaches who speak at these events typically hold informal Q&A sessions either just before or just after they deliver their remarks to the paying guests. Whether Nussmeier participates in such an exchange or not, he will step to the podium and talk about football. That’s what the folks who paid $50 a plate and $400 a table paid to see and hear.

Saban spoke at the event in 2009 and 2011. Auburn’s Gene Chizik spoke in 2010. This is (I believe) Miles first appearance, at least as the keynote.

So, is this a softening in Saban’s heretofore iron-fisted control over his assistant coaches’ interaction with the public and the media?

Why is Nussmeier special?

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What hiring Nussmeier and Thompson tells you about Nick Saban

Nick Saban is a man on a mission. Relentless, driven and seemingly unstoppable, he surrounds himself with people who share his philosophy.

When he hired Doug Nussmeier to replace Jim McElwain as offensive coordinator and rehired Lance Thompson to replace linebackers coach Sal Sunseri, Saban just bolted in parts that keep The Process churning along.

What sets Saban apart from other college football coaches is that he has an overarching philosophy and has been building a program designed to pursue it. It’s recruiting, it’s coaching hires, it’s front office personnel. Everything is geared towards executing the plan.

If Kirby Smart had left the program after the Tide’s second BCS title in two years (and Saban’s third), he would have been replaced with a nearly identical twin. The defense would be all but indistinguishable from the one that led the country in every statistical category and the new guy would recruit just as hard as Smart does.

The 2012 version of the Alabama Crimson Tide will look an awful lot like the 2011 version. And the 2010 version, and the 2009. So forth and so on. The faces and names change but The Process rolls on.

There is absolutely nothing being written about potential offensive philosophy changes following the addition of Nussmeier because nobody expects any deviation from Saban’s Neanderball.  Alabama was no more expected to hire a “guru” than I expect to win the lottery.

Placing a program’s fortunes in the hands of an ambitious wizard is too risky. One of two things is bound to happen and neither bodes well for the long term success of the program. Either the guru fails miserably and leaves the program trying to rebuild and catch back up to the rest of the league, or the guru is successful and takes his ambitions to another level, forcing you to find a replacement who can continue the success with his own system and your existing personnel.

Going from a spread to a power pro-set always comes with a painful transition. See Texas and Florida for recent, high-profile examples. Going the other way—from pro set to spread—creates the same problem. See the Rich Rodriguez experiment at Michigan for an example. When your head coach has a governing philosophy and is gearing everything about the program to execute it, these transitions never take place.

Flip-flopping back and forth between approaches means you might be bringing in quality staff but you’re never quite in rhythm. You beat up on conference doormats, you blow out non-conference patsies and go 8-4 or 9-3 but you almost always lose to the programs that matter. Bill Curry, anyone?

Bringing Lance Thompson back to Tuscaloosa is another example of bolting in nearly identical replacements. Sunseri is a high-energy position coach known for lights-out recruiting and excellent player development. Thompson is a high-energy position coach, known for lights-out recruiting and you get the idea. Six of one is a half dozen of the other and The Process rolls on. Process, process process.

No one should bother asking what changes might be expected from Alabama with Nusssmeier and Thompson on board. There won’t be any.

Saban’s coaching hires tell you that Alabama is a football program totally governed by a single philosophy. Everyone associated with the program knows what that philosophy is and knows their role in executing it. The results speak for themselves on the field, on the recruiting trail and on the coaching carousel. They’ll speak loudly on NFL Draft Day, too.

UPDATE: Oh, about that NFL thing.  Read this from al.com beat writer Izzy Gould.

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Helmet tap to “4Q Basket Case” on Tidefans.com for the