How long will Saban coach? Will recruiters target his age? Ready for Clemson-Alabama 4?

Dan Wolken | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Tua turns the Tide: Alabama wins national title in overtime SportsPulse: Amidst the confetti, Trysta Krick and George Schroeder break down Alabama's thrilling OT win.

Two weeks have passed since Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa sent that beautiful pass spinning through the air at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium and beat Georgia with a stunning 41-yard touchdown in overtime to claim Nick Saban’s fifth national championship in the last nine years.

While the final college football game of the 2017 season might not have been the best overall championship game in recent memory — I’d rank 2016 (Clemson over Alabama) and 2013 (Florida State over Auburn) firmly ahead in terms of entertainment value and drama — the final play was one of those shocking, forever moments to end a game where it actually takes you a second to process everything and realize what happened.

I’ve had that feeling a few times before covering sporting events: When Gordon Hayward’s running halfcourt shot against Duke nearly banked in to give Butler a national championship in 2010; when Michigan State blocked a punt and ran it back to beat Michigan in 2015; Kris Jenkins’ buzzer-beating three-pointer to win the 2016 national championship for Villanova; and, of course, the Kick Six. Purely as a moment, Tagovailoa’s pass stacks up with any of them.

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It’s also evidence of just how good college football has had it lately.

Since the Playoff began, three of the four championship games were within a possession in the final minutes. Extending back to the final BCS championship game in 2013, that’s four of the last five.

Will that kind of streak continue? It’s possible. There are a couple reasons for that. One, the teams that play in the championship game have won a semifinal against a top-four team. You can’t fluke your way into the title game. Teams such as 2012 Notre Dame, which got in on the strength of an unbeaten record but kind of overachieved to get there, are going to be exposed in the semifinals. Second, the quicker turnaround from semifinals to championship game levels the playing field from a preparation standpoint. You don’t get three weeks to game-plan or study your opponent, which definitely takes a little bit of advantage away from someone like an Alabama.

So here’s to more terrific championship games as we move headlong into the offseason, where there are plenty of story lines simmering around college football. Here are some of them, in no particular order of importance.

How long Nick Saban wants to coach is the biggest story line in the sport

It was sort of surprising to me, anyway, that much of the post-mortem on Alabama’s championship focused on the historical comparisons between Saban and Bear Bryant. While technically Saban’s sixth overall title (five at Alabama, one at LSU) tied him with Bryant, there already was a fairly broad consensus that Saban had surpassed Bryant as the greatest college football coach of all time. I conceded that with the 2015 title. It’s so much harder to win consistently at that level now than it was in Bryant’s era (largely because of scholarship limitations and other factors), it’s almost a different sport.

And it seems pretty obvious Alabama will be at or close to the top for as long as Saban, 66, wants to do it. Is that three more years? Five more? Who knows, but he hasn’t shown any signs that he’s slowing down.

However, from talking to several coaches around the SEC, there’s no doubt his age will be a factor in recruiting going forward. How much of a factor? Who knows? But it’s something Alabama will have to fight against, and it certainly seems to be reflected in some of the staff moves Saban has made this offseason.

It’s no coincidence Alabama’s staff makeover has focused on younger coaches and strong recruiters such as Jeff Banks (formerly of Texas A&M) and Josh Gattis, a 34-year old who was on the offensive staff under James Franklin at Penn State and Vanderbilt. Saban also remade his defensive staff by hiring Pete Golding from UTSA and Karl Scott out of Louisiana Tech, which are not your typical veteran SEC hires.

Though opinion around the country is mixed on Mike Locksley as offensive coordinator, bringing Gattis aboard could be a stroke of genius. It might be a handful of years away, but more than a few people in the business have identified him as a potential head coach.

Alabama-Clemson, Part 4 is probably looming

We’ll see how long it takes before people grow tired of this, but you should go ahead and mentally prepare yourself for another Playoff meeting. Barring some unexpected major development, the preseason polls for 2018 are likely to show Alabama at No. 1 and Clemson at No. 2, which reflects not only their recent consistency but the actual roster quality as well.

With Clemson unexpectedly returning Christian Wilkins, Clelin Ferrell and Austin Bryant on their defensive line — any or all of the three viably could have left for the NFL draft — the Tigers’ defense should be just as good or better than last season. The offense got exposed a bit by Alabama in the Playoff, but there’s certainly a possibility stud recruit Trevor Lawrence will surpass Kelly Bryant at quarterback. If Lawrence performs as advertised — he’s basically the highest-rated quarterback recruit ever out of the state of Georgia — that could change everything, quickly. Either way, Clemson’s schedule is extremely favorable, and I’d say the odds are better than 50/50 that the Tigers are 12-0 going into the ACC championship game.

Alabama actually might have a few more roster questions than Clemson, especially with its entire secondary departing. But it’s Alabama, and the performances by freshmen such as Tagovailoa, running back Najee Harris and receiver DeVonta Smith in the championship game could foreshadow the next generation of Crimson Tide stars. They’ll be fine.

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Bobby Petrino is running a family business

It’s gone almost unnoticed nationally, but the Louisville coach has reshaped his staff in a way that indicates he has no regard for the appearance of nepotism. On a full-time staff of 10 coaches, three are related to Petrino: His son Nick Petrino (quarterbacks), son-in-law L.D. Scott (defensive line, married to his daughter Kelsey) and son-in-law Ryan Beard (safeties, married to his daughter Katie).

That’s a bold move after going a disappointing 17-9 the last two seasons with the best player in school history. Louisville has a ton of question marks going into Year 5 of Petrino’s second stint, and his staff makeup will be fair game for critics if the Cardinals take a dip.

Georgia might be the most intriguing team in the country

Despite a crushing loss to Alabama in a championship game they controlled for so long, the future certainly looks good for the Bulldogs. But there’s never a guarantee you’ll get another bite at the apple, and it will interesting to watch Kirby Smart deal with a different set of expectations going forward. Though quarterback Jake Fromm will be back with plenty of talent around him (including another elite quarterback recruit in Justin Fields), Georgia is going to be a very different team next season.

So much of what fueled Georgia in 2017 from its special chemistry and leadership to the pure ability of players such as linebacker Roquan Smith and the Sony Michel/Nick Chubb running back tandem is gone. Georgia remains the heavy favorite in the SEC East and could certainly wind up back in the Playoff with a No. 1-ranked recruiting class filling all those personnel holes, but it wouldn’t be shocking if the Bulldogs slip back to something like 9-3.

Coach who should get your sympathy

Though Josh Heupel landed a plum Group of Five job at UCF, Scott Frost is going to be a tough act to follow. While the “national championship” stuff makes for good Twitter fodder, the real story is whether UCF can build a real, long-lasting fan base and shed the reputation of being a school with 64,000 students that doesn't generate enough interest to regularly fill a 45,000 seat stadium.

Athletics director Danny White has been touting increases in season ticket sales and donations, but what does UCF need to do next year to keep that going? Moreover, if the Heupel hire is a bust, will the momentum from 2017 go away? That’s not to suggest Heupel will fail, but the decision to hire him was a huge surprise in the industry and perceived to be fairly risky. If UCF is a disappointment next season, he’ll get a ton of blame, as will White for going away from a continuity hire like Troy Walters.

Ed Orgeron’s moves are baffling

Don’t want to go overboard yet, but getting rid of Matt Canada as offensive coordinator to go back to Steve Ensminger while hiring 73-yard old Jerry Sullivan as the “senior offensive assistant and passing game coordinator” opens up Orgeron to massive criticism if the LSU offense doesn’t improve next year. The perception around the SEC is that Orgeron doesn’t have any expertise on the offensive side of the ball but wants to have firm control over it anyway. That’s problematic because it’s exactly what he said he wouldn’t do when he became the head coach. Maybe Orgeron will roll sevens, but the Tigers have an 8-4 type of schedule if they aren’t careful.

Stitt Happens

Bob Stitt, a favorite of the college football Twitter world for his creative offensive concepts, is expected to land at Oklahoma State as an analyst after Montana surprisingly fired him after just three seasons. This could crack the door open for the longtime coach at Division II Colorado School of Mines, where he gained something of a cult following, to land at the FBS level down the road. Oklahoma State will be a bit of a mystery next season after significant personnel losses and no heir apparent to Mason Rudolph at quarterback.

Coaches who need a good year, in order of potential danger

David Beaty, Kansas; Derek Mason, Vanderbilt; Kalani Sitake, BYU; Major Applewhite, Houston; Kliff Kingsbury, Texas Tech; Lovie Smith, Illinois; Larry Fedora, North Carolina; Ed Orgeron, LSU; Clay Helton, USC

Coaches who could be in line to move up

Lane Kiffin, FAU; Mike Norvell, Memphis; Geoff Collins, Temple; Jason Candle, Toledo; Bill Clark, UAB; Neal Brown, Troy; Scott Satterfield, Appalachian State

Who might be the next FAU?

We’ve seen how big turnarounds can happen under a new coaching staff, and don’t be surprised if UTEP gets a jolt after hiring Dana Dimel, who ran the Kansas State offense the last nine years. UTEP is a tough job, but the Miners hit rock bottom last season at 0-12. Dimel’s offenses historically find a way to move the ball, and maybe he’ll spark something in El Paso.

Early Playoff picks for 2018

Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, Washington

Team nobody is talking about that could be a factor

Michigan State has a lot coming back, and with the player/staff exodus at Penn State and quarterback uncertainty at Michigan, perhaps the Spartans have an opening to challenge Ohio State in the rugged Big Ten East.

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