JD PicKell reacts to Nick Sheridan being promoted to Alabama OC, makes bold suggestion

On3’s JD PicKell saw the news of Alabama set to promote Nick Sheridan to offensive coordinator and still wondered if Kalen DeBoer would take control of the offense.

There was speculation DeBoer could just do it all on his own, at least that was PicKell’s suggestion. But, Sheridan is reportedly going from tight ends coach to offensive coordinator after following the coach from Washington.

PicKell joined The Paul Finebaum Show to break it all down.

“Yeah, well, if they gave me the power to pick the next offensive coordinator, I think Kalen DeBoer being your head coach and your OC would make a lot of sense and not so much from like a long term perspective,” PicKell said. “I think long term, you eventually want to be able to be that CEO and have somebody else call the plays for you.

“But if I’m Kalen DeBoer this is a pretty pivotal year for the optics at Alabama and not just for us as the college football public but if I’m going to recruit, a lot of these guys are kind of in wait and see mode (to see) what Bama is going to be in 2024 and kind of decide how they want to go about their recruitment from there.”

DeBoer showed he can call plays. Just go back and look at his offenses at Washington operated by Michael Penix Jr.

“He’s proven as a play caller and if I’m him, I’m like, ‘Okay, if we go down in year one, whether we have success or whether we fail, like I want it to be on my terms,’” PicKell said. “I don’t want somebody else running the show for us. But it sounds like Nick Sheridan is trending towards them elevating him to be the play caller, working with quarterbacks. 

“He’s currently the tight ends coach. I don’t hate that move. I think at the very least you provide some continuity … So if it’s me, I’m tagging myself to Kalen DeBoer but Nick Sheridan is not a bad movie either.”

If Sheridan is the one calling the plays, then DeBoer’s offense will be on his assistant coach. The way Finebaum and PicKell see it, perhaps it should be DeBoer should take command and let Sheridan come along slowly.

“I’d love that,” PicKell said. “Control your own destiny in year one. If it goes poorly, hand up, it’s all on me. If it goes well, that makes it even more attractive for whoever your next OC is going to be whether you go outside or whether you promote internally. 

“I just think that gives you the most options going forward and I think probably helps you sleep the best at night too even if you’re staying up a little bit later watching some film.”