It’s mid-February and fairly quiet on the Alabama coaching transaction wires.

Jinx?

Because in this business, you truly never know as Michigan State and Colorado would testify.

Relatively speaking, however, the first 43 days of 2020 have been pretty quiet for what had been a revolving door at the Crimson Tide coaching facility.

After four assistant coaching jobs changed hands this time two years ago and seven more swapped in 2019, Alabama’s hired just one new coach this offseason. Freddie Roach was officially hired as the defensive line coach Feb. 6 after Brian Baker was announced as a new assistant coach for the Indianapolis Colts.

Should this hold, Alabama would be in place for the most stable offseason after a string of chaotic December-February transitions.

It would be the first time both coordinators remained in their positions since 2015 when both Lane Kiffin and Kirby Smart returned for what became a national title run. Now both are rival head coaches in the SEC who have contributed to the turnover on Saban staffs since leaving the program.

No one factor contributed to the calm seas of 2020 despite four head coaching changes in the league. The composition of the staff hired last February likely contributed as Saban took a different approach replacing seven of the 10 coaches.

Adding coaches who were previously acquainted with Saban’s program culture didn’t hurt. Offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian and outside linebackers coach Sal Sunseri previously worked in the Alabama program when they were hired last winter.

A (relative) dip in 2017 recruiting success led to a new philosophy hiring for the 2018 staff.

“I thought we needed to improve our staff as a recruiting staff a year ago,” Saban said in March 2019 after losing seven members of that staff. “I think we did that. I think this recruiting class probably showed that. I think that the guys that we hired (in 2019) are good recruiters, but I do think in some cases we have more experience and I think knowledge and experience is always something that is really beneficial to teach players.”

Saban didn’t hold back when criticizing the 2018 staff as it related to the team’s performance in an ugly 44-16 loss to Clemson in the national title game. Upward mobility and “personal agendas” conflicted with game prep with reports of departures leaking before kickoff in Santa Clara, Saban later said.

Offensive line coach Brent Key vigorously denied contact with Georgia Tech in A Jan. 5 interview with AL.com five days before the Yellow Jackets announced his hire.

Receivers coach Josh Gattis and quarterbacks coach Dan Enos were also gone within days of the loss to Clemson while offensive coordinator Mike Locksley had accepted the Maryland head coaching job in December. Add in the replacement of running backs coach Joe Pannunzio with Charles Huff a few weeks later made tight ends coach Jeff Banks the only returning offensive coach a year ago.

All the change led to a renewed discussion about the challenge of working for Saban. The coach was asked at SEC Media Days about his reputation for being a difficult boss to please.

“None of this is easy,” Saban said. “I think when you're in a position of leadership and you're trying to make people be accountable and responsible to a standard that's going to help you continue to have success that sometimes you have to make people do things that they really don't want to do that may be in the best interest of the overall organization. So am I willing to do that? Absolutely. So, you have to make a choice and decision: You want to do it right? Or you want to make everybody happy?”

To date, the other nine assistants are at least content in their current roles as spring practice approaches next month.

There were a few reported attempts to hire Alabama assistants away in the last few months.

Sarkisian and Mississippi State had contact about the vacant head coaching job, several outlets reported, but the Bulldogs instead hired Mike Leach away from Washington State.

There were also early-December reports of Lane Kiffin taking swing at Scott Cochran for a job at Ole Miss, but nothing materialized there. Alabama previously kept Cochran when good friend Kirby Smart tried to lure him to Georgia in 2016. A $105,000 raise pushed the strength and conditioning coach’s salary north of a half-million a year. It’s currently $595,000 annually.

Even the departure of Baker to the Colts sounded like more of an Alabama decision than a desertion. AL.com’s Matt Zenitz reported Jan. 20 that Baker was expected to be moved to an off-field position after one year on the job and Roach was the top replacement candidate. Baker to the Colts was announced Feb. 6, the day after National Signing Day. Roach’s hire was announced by Alabama just hours later.

The wild offseason last year culminated in a Feb. 15 press release from Alabama announcing all seven coaching changes in one news dump. The concerns about continuity, its impact on recruiting and a demoralizing loss to Clemson brewed the Chicken Little fears last February.

A year later, the sky fell because of a two-loss, playoff-free season.

Rare continuity, however, is a reason for positivity even in a post-Tua world where LSU is the reigning national champion.

Related:

-- Alabama hires alum in first coaching change of 2020

-- Guide to 2019 Alabama coaching staff changes

-- Guide to Alabama football 2018 coaching changes, roster changes