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Bill O’Brien has spent his first two games as Alabama’s offensive coordinator coaching from the press box, which might not seem noteworthy, but in recent years, majority of the Crimson Tide’s offensive play-callers have coached from field level instead of with a bird’s eye view.
For Alabama’s offensive staff, which features four new hires, O’Brien and running backs coach Robert Gillespie are in the box, while offensive line coach Doug Marrone, tight ends coach and special teams coordinator and wide receivers coach Holmon Wiggins are all on the field.
Head coach Nick Saban explained the reasoning behind the coaching assignments.
“We have Doug Marrone and the other coaches that are on the sidelines, Wig as the receiver coach, who has been here, he’s assistant head coach, he knows the system,” Saban said on Thursday night. “So to split the staff up was really sort of the right thing to do. And Bill wanted to be in the press box, but he could do it either way and he’s done it either way. But it just balanced the staff out a little bit better to have Doug and Wig on the sidelines with the players because of their experience, because they could make the adjustments.
“Bill can always make the adjustments with the quarterback. And I think it enhances your ability to call the game when you’re in the press box because you don’t have all the distractions that you have on the sidelines. There’s good and bad in both, I promise you, so it really is kind of up to the individual and the group that you have and how that works best for your team.”
Just like in this case, Saban typically allows his offensive coordinators to coach from where they want. However, he insisted that Lane Kiffin be on the sidelines for his first year in 2014, and that’s where the now-Ole Miss coach stayed throughout his tenure. The coordinators before Kiffin -- Major Applewhite, Jim McElwain and Doug Nussmeier -- all coached from the booth in their time at UA. Most recently Steve Sarkisian called plays from the sideline.
Saban preferred to call games from the press box when he was Michigan State’s defensive coordinator from 1983-97, but when he worked under Bill Belichick with the Cleveland Browns, he was asked to coach from the sideline and was “absolutely scared to death” by the idea.
“I always called the game from the press box,” Saban said. “You could have all your stuff laid out, what I’m gonna call on third down, what I’m gonna call on first down, what I’m gonna call against this personnel group, whatever. So it was really easy to be organized, and in between series, you could actually look at all these things and decide what you’re gonna call next.”
In two games under O’Brien, Alabama’s offense has averaged 46.0 points and 462.5 yards per game, which ranks third and fifth in the SEC, respectively. Coaching from the booth hasn’t had much of an effect on starting quarterback Bryce Young, who has opened his sophomore season with 571 passing yards, seven touchdowns and a 70.8 completion percentage.
For Alabama’s offensive staff, which features four new hires, O’Brien and running backs coach Robert Gillespie are in the box, while offensive line coach Doug Marrone, tight ends coach and special teams coordinator and wide receivers coach Holmon Wiggins are all on the field.
Head coach Nick Saban explained the reasoning behind the coaching assignments.
“We have Doug Marrone and the other coaches that are on the sidelines, Wig as the receiver coach, who has been here, he’s assistant head coach, he knows the system,” Saban said on Thursday night. “So to split the staff up was really sort of the right thing to do. And Bill wanted to be in the press box, but he could do it either way and he’s done it either way. But it just balanced the staff out a little bit better to have Doug and Wig on the sidelines with the players because of their experience, because they could make the adjustments.
“Bill can always make the adjustments with the quarterback. And I think it enhances your ability to call the game when you’re in the press box because you don’t have all the distractions that you have on the sidelines. There’s good and bad in both, I promise you, so it really is kind of up to the individual and the group that you have and how that works best for your team.”
Just like in this case, Saban typically allows his offensive coordinators to coach from where they want. However, he insisted that Lane Kiffin be on the sidelines for his first year in 2014, and that’s where the now-Ole Miss coach stayed throughout his tenure. The coordinators before Kiffin -- Major Applewhite, Jim McElwain and Doug Nussmeier -- all coached from the booth in their time at UA. Most recently Steve Sarkisian called plays from the sideline.
Saban preferred to call games from the press box when he was Michigan State’s defensive coordinator from 1983-97, but when he worked under Bill Belichick with the Cleveland Browns, he was asked to coach from the sideline and was “absolutely scared to death” by the idea.
“I always called the game from the press box,” Saban said. “You could have all your stuff laid out, what I’m gonna call on third down, what I’m gonna call on first down, what I’m gonna call against this personnel group, whatever. So it was really easy to be organized, and in between series, you could actually look at all these things and decide what you’re gonna call next.”
In two games under O’Brien, Alabama’s offense has averaged 46.0 points and 462.5 yards per game, which ranks third and fifth in the SEC, respectively. Coaching from the booth hasn’t had much of an effect on starting quarterback Bryce Young, who has opened his sophomore season with 571 passing yards, seven touchdowns and a 70.8 completion percentage.
