Assessing the true pecking order during Alabama's coaching search

Alabama hired Kalen DeBoer to replace Nick Saban last week, but not before a couple of other potential candidates received new contracts.

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian and Florida State coach Mike Norvell both received raises and extensions after being mentioned for the Alabama position.

On3’s Andy Staples was joined by T-Bob Hebert to discuss the Alabama coaching search and who Alabama’s top target actually was.

“That’s a question we’ll probably never get truthfully answered,” Staples said. “Florida State fans got mad at me when I suggested that Mike Norvell might be the guy. I had Kalen DeBoer and Mike Norvell both on the list. I thought, if it were me doing the choosing, I would choose the guy who has recruited the Southeast really well.

“I love both of them as head coaches. I don’t have a problem with either one. But we don’t know if he was offered the job. We don’t know if Kalen DeBoer was the first choice. We have no idea. But Mike Norvell is getting $10-million a year now.”

College football agent Jimmy Sexton was spotted in Tuscaloosa, seemingly negotiating for his clients. Sexton represents Norvell, Sarkisian, DeBoer and several other high-profile coaches.

The presence of Sexton at Alabama helped him to negotiate new deals for clients other than DeBoer.

“The fact that we don’t know, that ignorance, that is where Sexton thrives, in that gray area,” Hebert said. “Because he can tell you that it’s real and you almost have no choice but to believe him, because you have no concrete information saying otherwise. And it doesn’t behoove Alabama to put out their list or who the No. 1 actually is. So really, the only person that actually knows, is Jimmy Sexton.

“And in a world where information is power, he has all of the power, because he’s the only one that has the actual concrete info. It’s unreal how that allows him to pull the strings everywhere.”

Hebert also shared what he thought of the Alabama coaching search and how AD Greg Byrne did.

Ultimately, he believes Alabama made an excellent hire.

“I kind of understand why maybe [Dan] Lanning would be the first choice, in terms of recruiting, in terms of a lot of carry over culturally from the Saban/Smart kind of school of thought. He’s young, he’s exciting. He definitely seems to have that ‘it’ factor. He’s just missing the resume,” Hebert said. “But Alabama can build out that resume for you, so I get him being the first choice.

“And then I had DeBoer right after that, because I just feel there’s a lot of similarities in how Nick Saban kind of came out the mud, a self-made man from West Virginia, and how DeBoer [came] out of South Dakota. … I know South Dakota is not the South, but in terms of cultural tones, it’s very similar. These are the same people. … Culturally, the blue collar, there’s a lot of similarities there. And so I don’t think DeBoer is going to be some fish out of water.”