Nate Oats inks contract extension with the Crimson Tide

Nate Oats and Alabama agree on contract extension in the midst of Michigan rumors

With the Michigan Wolverines parting ways with head basketball coach Juwan Howard this afternoon, Alabama head coach [autotag]Nate Oats[/autotag] emerged as a top target for Big Blue. Oats spent 11 years at Romulus High School, which is just outside of Detroit, so with some experience in the area he was a hot name.

Greg Byrne and the Alabama athletic department were never going to allow Michigan to test the waters though as Oats and Alabama inked an extension today. The new deal is rumored to make Oats one of the five highest-paid coaches in the sport and is very well deserved. With this being Oats’ fifth year in Tuscaloosa, he has already claimed two SEC regular season titles as well as two tournament titles. The board of trustees is expected to meet on Monday where they will approve the new deal as well as discussing the contracts of the new football staff.

Michigan is definitely one of the best jobs in college basketball, but Oats is blazing a trail in Alabama and has things rolling. He has been phenomenal on the recruiting trail, taken the Tide to new heights on the court and is already building arguably the most impressive resume of any Alabama basketball coach yet – and he is just getting started.

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Nick Saban uses Bear Bryant, Bobby Bowden to place emphasis on the current state of college football

What would Bear Bryant and Bobby Bowden think about the current state of college football?

Do you ever sit back and wonder what the former generations would think about the current state of college football? If so, you are not alone. On Monday night, former Alabama head football coach [autotag]Nick Saban[/autotag] referenced two of the most legendary college football coaches of all time when discussing the sport we all love.

While speaking at the 2024 Nick Saban Legacy Awards, the recently retired coach used Bear Bryant and Bobby Bowden as examples of why change is needed in college football. Not only did Saban reference the two legends, but he also pledged to do his part in working with SEC commissioner Greg Sankey and Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne to help develop a plan.

“If coach Bryant or coach Bowden could all of a sudden be with us tonight, what would they think of college football right now? That should be the very reason that we’re all very much committed to what we can do to make college football something where players can have a great quality of life, but we still have a venue where they have an opportunity to grow and learn and be successful.

“I would like to be a part of trying to help people that are working hard to make that happen like Greg Sankey. Like Greg Byrne. Like our conference commissioners are trying to do. That’s really, really important for young people, and it’s something that we’re very much committed to.”

Even though he has been retired for less than two months, Saban is proving that he wants to continue to be active in the sport he dominated for so long.

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5 things Kalen DeBoer must do in his first day as Alabama’s head coach

The five most important acts Kalen DeBoer must complete in his first day as Alabama’s head coach

Replacing [autotag]Nick Saban[/autotag] was going to be an impossible task, but it feels like landing [autotag]Kalen DeBoer[/autotag] is as good as it gets.

DeBoer is a proven winner with a 104-12 head coaching record. He is coming off a national title game appearance in just his second year with the Washington Huskies. He was reportedly athletic director Greg Byrne’s top target and the sides worked hard to get a deal done with almost no leaks.

DeBoer should be celebrated and enjoy the new promotion, but first thing in the morning we gotta get to work. Name, image and likeness licensing and the transfer portal have changed the game and allow you to essentially revamp your roster overnight, but DeBoer will have his work cut out for him. Many of the guys in the Alabama program came here because they wanted to play for Nick Saban, keeping them is going to require a sales pitch and a vision.

DeBoer has coordinator positions to fill, open roster spots and several other issues to attack. He has limited time to do so. Here are the five most important things DeBoer must do on his first day as head coach of the Crimson Tide:

OPINION: Alabama has a clear choice when it comes to hiring a new head coach

Breaking down what has happened in the recent hours of Alabama’s search for a head coach.

Replacing Nick Saban is an impossible task, it was always going to be. What he did on the football field will never be replicated. Six national titles, nine SEC Championships and four Heisman Trophy winners are just the beginning of an unfathomable list of achievements and accolades. There was never going to be an easy time for Saban to step away, but maybe it wasn’t the worst after an SEC title and Rose Bowl berth.

From Saban’s perspective, 14-hour long days are difficult for anyone, especially a 72-year-old. Especially in the era of the NIL, transfer portal, and social media, he has been remarkable in adapting as well as he has over time. However, I believe he still has a very bright future in media and think it’s more likely than not that he will end up on a show like ESPN’s College GameDay.

Stepping away now hurts, but if he left after the 2024 season, he would be departing at the same time as Milroe and other key contributors, which would leave a lot of issues for his successor. As of right now, whoever the next coach is has a chance to step in and take over the reins of a national title-caliber team. The next coach has a lot of recruiting to do to keep the current roster together, but Saban at an advisor-level role helps monumentally.

As for who the coach will be, I think Greg Byrne has his guy. Byrne loves and owes Saban the world, but he knew life would go on after Saban. Byrne has made some outstanding hires such as Nate Oats, so I would be appalled if he dropped the ball on the biggest coaching vacancy in the sport in 17 years. Who he hires after Saban is how Byrne’s legacy will always be judged, and I think this is an opportunity for him to flex his muscles.

Wednesday night, all the smoke indicated that Oregon’s Dan Lanning was the top target, but FOX Sports Joel Klatt has said since the jump that the pick is Washington’s DeBoer, even going as far as to say, “I would be pretty surprised if Deboer isn’t the next head coach at Alabama.” Klatt is as well connected to the people in the conference formerly known PAC-12 as anyone and is usually a very level-headed guy in a sport about hot takes.

In the last month, DeBoer hired a new agent, Jimmy Sexton. Sexton is the SEC mega-agent who represents guys like Steve Sarkisian, Lane Kiffin, Mike Norvell, and plenty of other big-time names.

Today, Norvell had a new deal announced and Sark is reportedly close to one which tells me that Sexton is just leveraging his guys into new deals for now. Norvell, Lanning, and Sarkisian have all publicly posted videos to X to stay at their current school, but it’s been crickets from DeBoer in Seattle. It was so quiet that DeBoer called out on his morning appearance with the 93.3 KJR radio station in Seattle.

DeBoer is from South Dakota and has no true allegiances anywhere when it comes to coaching, so it’s pretty hard to turn down the best coaching job in the sport in Alabama. He is 104-12 as a head coach and coming off of back-to-back PAC-12 Coach of the Year awards. He went 67-3 at Sioux Falls with three NAIA national championships. Since taking over for Washington he is 25-3, and 3-0 against Lanning and 2-0 against Sarkisian. He led his team to the College Football Playoffs and got all the way to the national championship, but fell short.

Until something tells me otherwise, all signs seem to point to DeBoer. Everywhere DeBoer has been, he has won, it would be interesting to see what he could do with Alabama’s resources. It also opens the question if he would bring offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb, an Alabama target last summer, along with him.

I get that trying to replace Saban is a daunting task, but these college football coaches aren’t going to shy away from a challenge.

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Nate Oats, Alabama are quickly becoming an NBA pipeline

Nate Oats is quickly turning the Alabama men’s basketball program into a pipeline to the NBA!

From 2000 through 2018, the Alabama men’s basketball program produced just six total NBA draft picks. In 2019, athletic director Greg Byrne announced the hiring of Buffalo head coach [autotag]Nate Oats[/autotag] and the Tide turned (pun intended).

Since Oats’ arrival in Tuscaloosa, the Crimson Tide have had six players drafted, four of which have been first-round picks.

Before Brandon Miller and Noah Clowney were selected in the 2023 NBA draft on Thursday night, Kira Lewis, Josh Primo, Herb Jones, and J.D. Davison were all draft picks under the tutelage of Oats.

It’s starting to make sense as to why the Tide has been so successful on the hardwood over the past few seasons, elite talent and development have paved the way to Alabama becoming one of the premier programs in college basketball under the leadership of Nate Oats. And it doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon.

Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Stacey Blackwood on Twitter @Blackwood89.

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Breaking down the top schools of 2022 in terms of athletic revenue

Alabama finishes the 2022-2023 season in the top three schools in terms of athletic revenue

What drives almost all decisions? Money. Fortunately for the SEC, of the top 25 schools with the highest athletic revenue in 2022, 11 belong to the Southeastern Conference if you include future members Texas and Oklahoma. If you look a little closer, the SEC also takes up seven spots in the top 10. However, it is noted that this list does not include private schools.

For Greg Byrne and the Alabama Crimson Tide, 2022-2023 may have been one of the most successful years in program history. The football team finished with 11 wins and a Sugar Bowl victory, the men’s basketball team was the regular season and SEC tournament champions who eventually earned the No. 1 overall seed in March Madness, Softball made it to the Women’s College World Series and Men’s baseball made it all the way to the Super Regionals before falling to No. 1 overall Wake Forest.

According to USA TODAY Sports, the Crimson Tide finished the 2022-2023 year with the third-most revenue of any school with $214 million. Only the Longhorns finished higher on the list as a future SEC member with $239 million. Georgia, LSU, Texas A&M, Florida and Oklahoma are the other five SEC programs to crack the top 10.

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Alabama Baseball HC Brad Bohannon fired amid sports betting probe in Ohio

Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne announced the termination process for Alabama baseball head coach Brad Bohannon. This comes just days after sports bets in Ohio were halted following some suspension after the Alabama-LSU series over the weekend.

Alabama baseball head coach Brad Bohannon was fired on Thursday morning. Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne initiated a statement regarding the decision to terminate Bohannon. The statement reads the following:

“Alabama director of athletics Greg Byrne announced he has initiated the termination process for head baseball coach Brad Bohannon for, among other things, violating the standards, duties, and responsibilities expected of University employees. Bohannon has been relieved of all duties and Jason Jackson will serve as the interim head coach. There will be no further comment at this time pending an ongoing review.”

The news comes just days after ‘suspicious wagering activity’ took place in the state of Ohio. Following the Alabama-LSU baseball series over the weekend, suspicion arose from LSU’s Game 1 victory. The suspicion caused the state of Ohio and its sportsbook bettors to halt sports betting on the Alabama baseball program for the time being.

Bohannon began his seventh season at Alabama in 2023. As Alabama’s head coach, he attained a 166-124 record. With his departure, pitching coach Jason Jackson will serve as the interim head coach. Jackson has been a part of the coaching staff since 2017.

Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow the Alabama baseball program.

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WATCH: Alabama AD Greg Byrne addresses building new basketball arena

Greg Byrne addresses the desire of fans to get the Crimson Tide basketball programs a new home.

Alabama athletics have used Coleman Coliseum as the home for various sports and as an event space since 1968. With the success of the Crimson Tide men’s basketball team, fans have been asking for a new home.

Though renderings and potential future plans have been floated by official social media accounts and quotes from athletics administrators, not much solid information has become available to fans.

Recently, Alabama Athletics Director, Greg Byrne, joined The Next Round Live and talked about the plans for a new arena.

“I wanted our fans to know that we have not sat still. We continue to work on it,” said Byrne. “We work on it every single day. We have a fiduciary responsibility where I can’t jeopardize the rest of our department based off of one facility.”

Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow Alabama basketball and the process of getting the team a brand new home to play in.

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Jimbo Fisher on Nick Saban fued: ‘It’s over with’

Jimbo Fisher and Nick Saban end their war of words

Last month, Texas A&M head coach [autotag]Jimbo Fisher[/autotag] and Alabama head coach [autotag]Nick Saban[/autotag] got into a very public dispute about NIL and how each others programs are ran. Saban accused the Aggies of paying for players while Jimbo accused Saban of being a cheater along with many other names.

This week, the SEC meetings took place in Destin, FL and both coaches came prepared knowing they’d be bombarded with questions on the topic.

Fisher strongly cleared the air stating, “it’s over with. We’re done talking about it and what happens. We’re moving on to the future of what goes on and trying to fix the problems of what we have in college football. We have a lot more pressing needs than our arguments.”

Saban had nothing to add, however, Alabama athletic director [autotag]Greg Byrne[/autotag] wanted everyone to know that Alabama does things the right way by saying, “I know we feel very good about our compliance and what we do at Alabama.”

While there is still a lot of animosity in the room, Fisher did walk back some of his comments saying, “We had a great relationship. We had a lot of success, did well, and wasn’t many issues at all. Did you ever argue with your brother? Did you love your brother? Did you support your brother? That’s the way coaches are.”

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Alabama executive deputy AD, Jeff Purinton, to be the next AD at Arkansas State

Jeff Purinton will become the next AD at Arkansas State!

Even off of the football field, the University of Alabama has their employees plucked left and right for new positions. This time, Alabama executive deputy AD, Jeff Purinton, is off to Jonesboro to run the Arkansas State University athletic department.

Purinton has been with Alabama since 2007 and his importance to the university can not be understated. He has been a crucial part of everything that Alabama has done, even prior to the arrival of athletic director Greg Byrne. In the past, Byrne has been linked to the PAC-12 commissioner position, the president of the NCAA, so anyone under the tutelage of Byrne comes in high regard.

In Jonesboro, Purinton will be meeting up with former Alabama staffer and current head football coach, Butch Jones.

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Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Sam Murphy on Twitter @SamMurphy02.

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