Alabama athletics director Greg Byrne asked for 72 hours to find Nick Saban’s replacement for the Crimson Tide football program.
“We got it done in 49,” Byrne said.
In the latest episode of “The Tides That Bind: Inside Alabama Football” on FOX Nation, Byrne and multiple members of the Alabama athletics staff recollected on the coaching search that ended with the hiring of former Washington coach Kalen DeBoer.
And in that process Byrne only regrets one mistake.
“If we had to do it over again, I don’t know a whole lot we would do differently from a planning standpoint,” Byrne said. “Tell you one we missed on: We didn’t have a bag of Alabama gear when Kalen got off the plane. I kicked myself after that. I figured, if that’s what you miss on, we’ll survive that. And coach DeBoer has plenty of Alabama gear now.”
When Greg Byrne knew about Nick Saban retirement
In Saban’s meeting announcing his retirement, Byrne said he was in the back of the room waiting to hear what was said. If Saban started the retirement speech, Byrne said, “that’s when the plan starts going into place.”
Byrne said an outline was already created as a “way to start moving” when Saban did retire. Byrne then urged the players in front of him to give him 72 hours and the chance to put another coach in front of you.
Byrne then called for Alabama football leaders to “hold the locker room together,” leading to what he remembers as a “tepid” response.
Alabama football director of player development Ha Ha Clinton-Dix said Saban’s announcement took the air out of the room.
“When coach Saban first got on stage, he was having his normal conversations like we were getting ready to fight for another championship,” Clinton-Dix said. “Towards the end of this conversation, this meeting, he started stumbling a little bit. Started getting a bit teary-eyed. You could feel the energy change in the room.”
Denzel Devall, another director of player development, remembers shock from both players and staff members.
“Everybody’s in disbelief like it’s a dream,” Devall said. “And when he walks off the stage, that’s when reality hits like… ‘The GOAT gone.'”
In Alabama’s first season with DeBoer, the Crimson Tide finished 9-4, its worst record since 2007.
Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at cgay@gannett.com or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Greg Byrne shares one mistake he made in Alabama football coaching search
