Four days later in Tuscaloosa, Alabama was about to have its regular morning football staff meeting when Saban noticed someone was missing.
“Hey, where’s Dan?” Saban asked staffers, according to people with knowledge of the meeting, in reference to Dan Enos, the Tide’s quarterbacks coach who had just been promoted to become Alabama’s new offensive coordinator.
The offensive coordinator vacancy had been created by Mike Locksley leaving to become the head coach at Maryland. Much of the staff was on the road recruiting, but Saban and Enos were supposed to interview offensive line coaching candidates to replace Brent Key, who had taken a job at his alma mater Georgia Tech after three years with the Crimson Tide.
“Where’s Dan?”
Enos had done a terrific job as the Alabama quarterbacks coach in his first season in the program. A few days earlier Locksley had raved about the work Enos had done training the Tide QBs to be more efficient in their decision-making. That work had carried over from the practice field into games, especially evidenced by Jalen Hurts’ finding the second receiver on several occasions when he came off the bench to rally Alabama past Georgia in the SEC Title Game.
Enos’ stock had soared in Saban’s eyes, from all accounts inside the Tide program. Saban was counting on Enos as Alabama would again have to navigate a staggering amount of staff turnover, even by Saban standards. After the 2017 season the Tide brought on six new assistant coaches. Both Locksley and Key were gone back to their home bases immediately after the 2018 season, as expected. Josh Gattis, the up-and-coming wideouts coach and co-offensive coordinator, had left the day before the staff meeting to take the offensive coordinator job at Michigan.
That same day Enos’ name had surfaced as a candidate for offensive coordinator openings at Georgia and Miami. But at Alabama, Enos was getting handed the keys to the most explosive collection of skill talent the Tide has ever had: the phenom quarterback and Heisman Trophy runner-up Tua Tagovailoa, two five-star running backs and a quartet of blazing fast wideouts that led the country in big plays by a wide margin. However, there was no sign of Enos when the staff meeting was about to start.
“Where the F#$% is Dan?!?”
Several of the staffers knew the answer to their boss’ question. Word had already spread that the 50-year-old Enos was headed to Miami to become offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach under Manny Diaz. No one in the room wanted to be the one to break that news to Saban, even though Miami was primed to announce it in a couple hours.
One staffer scrambled to check if Enos was in his office. It was empty, save for a pencil on the desk. Maybe he’d already moved into Locksley’s old office, but that one was empty too.
“He moved out like the Colts,” said one person with knowledge of the matter, equating Enos’ departure to the middle of the night exit by the old Baltimore NFL franchise to Indianapolis.
“Hey, where’s Dan?” Saban asked staffers, according to people with knowledge of the meeting, in reference to Dan Enos, the Tide’s quarterbacks coach who had just been promoted to become Alabama’s new offensive coordinator.
The offensive coordinator vacancy had been created by Mike Locksley leaving to become the head coach at Maryland. Much of the staff was on the road recruiting, but Saban and Enos were supposed to interview offensive line coaching candidates to replace Brent Key, who had taken a job at his alma mater Georgia Tech after three years with the Crimson Tide.
“Where’s Dan?”
Enos had done a terrific job as the Alabama quarterbacks coach in his first season in the program. A few days earlier Locksley had raved about the work Enos had done training the Tide QBs to be more efficient in their decision-making. That work had carried over from the practice field into games, especially evidenced by Jalen Hurts’ finding the second receiver on several occasions when he came off the bench to rally Alabama past Georgia in the SEC Title Game.
Enos’ stock had soared in Saban’s eyes, from all accounts inside the Tide program. Saban was counting on Enos as Alabama would again have to navigate a staggering amount of staff turnover, even by Saban standards. After the 2017 season the Tide brought on six new assistant coaches. Both Locksley and Key were gone back to their home bases immediately after the 2018 season, as expected. Josh Gattis, the up-and-coming wideouts coach and co-offensive coordinator, had left the day before the staff meeting to take the offensive coordinator job at Michigan.
That same day Enos’ name had surfaced as a candidate for offensive coordinator openings at Georgia and Miami. But at Alabama, Enos was getting handed the keys to the most explosive collection of skill talent the Tide has ever had: the phenom quarterback and Heisman Trophy runner-up Tua Tagovailoa, two five-star running backs and a quartet of blazing fast wideouts that led the country in big plays by a wide margin. However, there was no sign of Enos when the staff meeting was about to start.
“Where the F#$% is Dan?!?”
Several of the staffers knew the answer to their boss’ question. Word had already spread that the 50-year-old Enos was headed to Miami to become offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach under Manny Diaz. No one in the room wanted to be the one to break that news to Saban, even though Miami was primed to announce it in a couple hours.
One staffer scrambled to check if Enos was in his office. It was empty, save for a pencil on the desk. Maybe he’d already moved into Locksley’s old office, but that one was empty too.
“He moved out like the Colts,” said one person with knowledge of the matter, equating Enos’ departure to the middle of the night exit by the old Baltimore NFL franchise to Indianapolis.
