Nick Saban Non-Committal on the Future of Former Michigan Assistant George Helow

The Alabama Crimson Tide brought in a former Jim Harbaugh assistant to help prepare for the Rose Bowl.

The No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide is set to take on the No. 1 Michigan Wolverines to open the new year in the semifinals of the College Football Playoffs. The Tide opened Rose Bowl preparations over the weekend and they're now down to 13 days until kicking off with the Wolverines. 

Alabama head football coach Nick Saban made an interesting move in the lead up to bowl preparations in hiring former Michigan assistant coach George Helow. Helow had been out of college football in 2023, but most recently worked for the Maize and Blue from 2021-22. 

"Well George has been here before so he was with us for a long time, knows our system. I think every year that we've been in the playoffs we've tried to bring somebody in, primarily because we spent two weeks, really, on the road recruiting," said Saban to the media on Monday, "So somebody to do a little extra work that has good experience, when we get off the road being able to give us a good scouting report of what we need to know and so that's the purpose just to add a sort of special assistant to me, whatever you want to call it, to when I come off the road be able to get me up to speed on what's happening. So that's the reason we've always done that."

Helow served as a coaching intern with the Crimson Tide in 2012 and then also with Florida State in 2013, therefore winning back-to-back national championships. 

There was an assumption that the Tide would be hiring Helow to replace departing Coleman Hutzler as an outside linebackers coach but Saban was quick to shut down any future decisions from a coaching personnel standpoint. 

"Look we're not concerned about any of that stuff right now. We've got a game coming up. Coleman Hutzler is here, he's finishing the season. I don't have time right now to go through the due diligence of hiring anybody or even be concerned about that. We're focused on what we've got to do right now."

The Crimson Tide spent the first three days of Rose Bowl practice working on the fundamentals and will begin utilizing Helow's prep work tomorrow as the Michigan game plan begins to take shape. 

Early Enrollees and a Little Look at Michigan on The Joe Gaither Show