As a wave of assistants fled Tuscaloosa last month, a narrative began to form around Alabama’s football program and its head coach, Nick Saban. The exodus, which followed a reorganization the previous offseason, prompted outsiders to wonder if Saban had become too demanding of a boss and the unique experience of working for one of college football’s elite teams wasn’t worth the aggravation that accompanies it.
That speculation was bolstered by comments former Alabama wide receivers coach Josh Gattis made after his quick exit to Michigan, when he said on Wolverines coach Jim Harbaugh’s podcast the staff in Ann Arbor was “by far the most hospitable…that I’ve been around.”
It was a conclusion Gattis arrived at a mere five days after landing his new job.
According to Gattis, he had been the recipient of one of Saban’s famed “butt chewings" when he informed the head coach he was leaving, which wasn’t exactly shocking.
As one former Alabama staffer said of Saban, “He’s constantly confronting people.”
But the anecdote Gattis shared only reinforced the perception Saban’s draconian leadership style had started a negative trend of annual staff turnover.
For those searching for answers to explain why this was happening, it seemed as good a reason as any.
But then a funny thing happened: Coaches who had left Alabama in previous years signed up for another tour with the Tide.
Steve Sarkisian, whose first stint as offensive coordinator was as short as it was uninspiring, returned to call plays. Sal Sunseri, the linebackers coach who was there when Saban’s Alabama dynasty began to congeal, came back to shepherd the pass rushers. And Major Applewhite, who was the OC at the dawn of Saban’s tenure, has resurfaced in Tuscaloosa as an analyst after he was ousted as Houston’s head coach. The influx of retreads has been a fascinating development that has only helped Saban make the case the culture he has created at Alabama isn’t as unpleasant as others may claim.
Saban has had to fight that impression, especially as Clemson — and the family-fun atmosphere it has cultivated — has become the Tide’s chief nemesis. Unlike Saban, Tigers coach Dabo Swinney has been able to retain his assistants throughout their ascent to the top of the college football world.
“Don’t mess with happy,” Clemson co-offensive coordinator Jeff Scott said. "And right now our coaches are happy, because it’s not like this everywhere.”
But others who have left Alabama, perhaps thinking the grass will be greener elsewhere, learn that isn’t true either.
That same ex-staffer who noted how Saban constantly confronted people also acknowledged how much he realized he had missed Alabama’s exacting culture when he was at other programs that didn’t have the same high standards.
“When I was at Bama, you leave the practice field whipped or exhausted,” he said. “You’re like, ‘We got it in to day.’ Whereas I have been other places where you leave practice and you don’t feel like you’ve even had practice.”
For some coaches, that level of intensity is a turnoff; to others, it’s intoxicating.
At the very least, it’s not enough to dissuade them from making a second act in Tuscaloosa.
Former assistants Bo Davis, Jeremy Pruitt, Joe Pannunzio and Billy Napier can attest to that. They all left and they all came back to work for Saban.
Now, Applewhite, Sunseri and Sarkisian are following in their footsteps.
That shows the program’s atmosphere is far from toxic and that Saban’s management style isn’t objectionable to everyone in his profession.
The Alabama head coach may be a tough boss, but it’s clear he’s not so bad that someone wouldn’t want to work for him twice.
Rainer Sabin is an Alabama beat writer for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @RainerSabin