How will Nick Saban's overhaul of the Alabama coaching staff translate on the field in 2019?

That's the latest pressing question for the Crimson Tide, now that the moves have been officially announced. Only three assistant coaches remain from last year's team, which finished 14-1 but lost 44-16 to Clemson in the College Football Playoff championship game.

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Seven new assistant coaches are in, and that includes former analyst Steve Sarkisian, who briefly held the offensive coordinator position after the 2017 College Football Playoff loss to the Tigers. Charles Huff (running backs), Holmon Wiggins (receivers) and former Rutgers coach Kyle Flood (offensive line) also joined the offensive staff. Former Houston coach Major Applewhite, Saban's first offensive coordinator in 2007, is back as an analyst.

Pete Golding was promoted to defensive coordinator, and will be joined by former Tide linebackers coach Sal Sunseri (outside linebackers), Brian Baker (defensive line) and Charles Kelly (safeties).

These moves were initially met with skepticism, at best, when announced. ESPNU radio analyst and former Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy can do the math, but he’s not worried about how these changes might impact the Saban dynasty.

"I think in most years I would be concerned, but in this year in a lot of ways it might be addition by subtraction," McElroy told Sporting News. "Not to discredit the previous coaching staff, but when you have so many new voices there can be some mixed messaging within the coaching staff.

"When you're new to the staff and you don't know how the program is run that can lead to some miscommunication," he said. "That's kind of what transpired this year, and that showed at the end."

That seems to be the message from those who cover the program. Ryan Fowler, the radio host for 102.9 FM in Tuscaloosa, described it as Saban getting back to the basics.

"He's going back to the well," Fowler told SN. "He's going back to the familiar coaches that know him, that know his system. All these guys are veteran coaches. He's going to go back to something he's familiar with."

That means intrigue on both sides of the ball heading into spring practice.

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After all, the offense averaged 45.6 points per game, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting and receiver Jerry Jeudy won the Biletnikoff Award. If Alabama beats Clemson, the 2018 team is considered among the greatest of all time. Offensive coordinator Mike Locksley is now head coach at Maryland, and Dan Enos and Josh Gattis took offensive coordinator jobs at Miami and Michigan, respectively. Now, Sarkisian is back at the controls.

Does that mean Saban will shift the Crimson Tide's offensive philosophy?

"Not really," McElroy said. "He just wants to bring in guys that are familiar with philosophy of the organization. Sark is a guy that he clearly thinks highly of, and a guy that can bring the best out of Tua."

McElroy said it’s too early to tell what that will mean for the offense before spring practice. Still, he speculated on what that might mean for Tagovailoa, who finished with 3,966 passing yards, 43 touchdowns and six interceptions last season.

"I would expect it to have some similar philosophies and wrinkles, but I would also expect more traditional dropback passing," McElroy said. "They are still going to use the RPOs and the things that made Tua successful, but I would expect a little more of the traditional West Coast offense that they got away from last year."

What about the defense? Tosh Lupoi left his post as defensive coordinator to become the defensive line coach for the Cleveland Browns under Freddie Kitchens. The Crimson Tide allowed 18.1 points per game, the highest mark since allowing 18.4 in 2014. That included 44 points and 482 yards in the loss to Clemson, a game in which Trevor Lawrence passed for 347 yards and three touchdowns.

Golding and the new staff will be tasked with refurbishing that defense. In a sense, this could be the season-long counter move to Clemson, similar to what the Tigers did by turning to Lawrence in favor of incumbent Kelly Bryant last season after losing 21-6 to Alabama in the 2017 College Football Playoff.

"I think that were some issues, but I would say there were some personnel issues too," McElroy said. "There were holes in that defense, but they just happened to have a guy named Quinnen Williams who masked some of those deficiencies."

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The new coaching staff will be on the spot, and that of course spins back to Saban, who enters his 13th season at Alabama and turns 68 on Halloween. The Tide have alternated between Playoff/championship game losses and national titles the last five seasons. The last time the Tide lost the championship game, in 2016, Saban opened SEC Media Days with a message: "Don't waste a failure." The Tide responded by winning the 2017 national title.

"They have a tendency to bounce back as good or better than ever after they lose on that stage," McElroy said. "I would expect them to be just as good next year; probably undefeated given the schedule they play."

Which leads to the last question, especially after this coaching overhaul: How much longer will Saban be the coach for the Crimson Tide?

The way McElroy sees it, that question is nowhere near ready to be asked. Even if Saban does retire, McElroy believes he wouldn’t stay retired long.

"I think for a while there he thought he wanted to go and switch into TV," McElroy said. "That was something he thought he might enjoy, and I understand that. As time has gone on, I really believe he has started to realize that he would not be as fulfilled by doing something else as he would be coaching football. He is at peace with that.

“That's the case now, and I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case five years from now."