Gene Wojciechowski quotes former Alabama analysts on ‘sitting at the kids table’

The line of head coaches who worked under Nick Saban at Alabama is impressive. Stories continue to come out about what it was like “sitting at the kids table,” and ESPN’s Gene Wojciechowski talked to some of them about that experience.

Wojciechowski narrated a story that aired during College GameDay prior to the Crimson Tide’s win over Texas — coached by Steve Sarkisian, who served as an analyst and offensive coordinator under Saban. Sarkisian made the comparison to Thanksgiving dinner when the kids get stuck sitting away from the adults. Analysts and other staffers sit in the “outfield” of the meeting room and assistants sit in the “infield.”

It’s all part of the experience under the legendary Alabama coach, who teaches lessons that translate when those coaches get new jobs.

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“As Sarkisian said in the piece, it’s like sitting at the kids table on Thanksgiving dinner,” Wojciechowski said on the College GameDay podcast. “You are out of sight and you just have to deal with it. Then, when you move to the infield, I think you have a greater appreciation for the outfield people, first of all.

“And secondly, there’s a sense of accomplishment. You have worked your way from the outer ring to the inner circle. Again, they know going in, ‘This is what’s expected of you. If you can’t deal with it, you probably shouldn’t say yes to this job.'”

Lane Kiffin learned about Nick Saban’s expectations the hard way

It’s not just analysts at Alabama who are expected to sit quietly until Saban speaks to them. Wojciechowski said Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin, a former offensive coordinator, shared an interesting story about speaking up as a full-time assistant — drawing plenty of looks from his fellow staffers.

From that point on, Kiffin learned to keep his thoughts to himself unless called upon.

“One of the things that Kiffin said — and again, he was hired as an offensive coordinator and was in the infield. He said at one of the early meetings, Saban said something and Kiffin started chiming in and everybody looked at him like they wanted to put a knitting needle into his eye,” Wojciechowski said. “It was rhetorical. Saban doesn’t want you to speak unless he asks you to speak, and it’s even ten-fold that when you’re in the outfield.”

Why working at an analyst at Alabama is such a unique opportunity for former head coaches

In addition to Kiffin and Sarkisian, Maryland head coach Mike Locksley worked as an analyst despite having better-paying opportunities in college and, potentially, in the NFL. Former Tennessee head coach Butch Jones did the same before moving up to special assistant to the head coach and eventually becoming the head coach at Arkansas State.

Wojciechowski said the idea of working under Saban appealed to him, which is why he took the substantial pay cut as he hit the crossroads in his career.

“Look, Lane Kiffin won’t make any secret of it. … He certainly chafed under the thumb of Saban, even as a member of the infield and as an assistant coach there,” Wojciechowski said. “He didn’t understand it in a way. But once he got out, and I think he’s applied some of those things that he witnessed and learned under Nick at his own programs now. Steve Sarkisian said he went there mostly because he wanted to learn how Nick Saban did things and Michael Locksley had other opportunities to go work for other programs as full-time assistants. He was even kicking the tires on NFL teams and they were kicking them on him, also.

“But he went to a place where he wanted to learn and be uncomfortable, and you definitely are uncomfortable with Nick Saban at times. I think that’s the trade-off. Yes, it’s irritating, it’s annoying, you don’t understand it. ‘Hey, I was a head coach, why are you talking to me like this?’ But once you get out, it’s like being a kid and you don’t understand your parents. But as you get older and you’re raising your own kids, all of a sudden, ‘Ah, it makes sense.'”