Alabama plays in the Sugar Bowl tonight

NEW ORLEANS — Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham will lose both coordinators. Alabama’s Nick Saban sounded resigned to facing some staff changes on the eve of the Sugar Bowl.

Whittingham’s defensive coordinator, Gary Andersen, will be the head coach at Utah State. Offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig has taken the same role at Kansas State.

“I’m not a big-drama guy. We’re not having a meeting and cry on each other’s shoulders,” Whittingham said.

“But it’s been a positive experience working with those guys for four years. They were two of my original hires — Gary was the first, Andy was the third. I appreciate the hard work they’ve put into the program over the last four years.”

Whittingham has already promoted Kalani Sitake from linebacker coach to defensive coordinator. He said his first priority after the bowl is to hire an offensive coordinator.

Saban’s staff may be targeted by other schools, too. Head defensive coach Kevin Steele reportedly is being pursued by Clemson.

“Continuity is always good for your coaching staff,” Saban said. “But the other side of that is, if you do have change, it’s an opportunity to bring in new enthusiasm, fresh ideas, people who can really complement the staff that you have.”
Saban said coaches have goals and aspirations for themselves.

“I would like for each and every one of our coaches to reach some of those goals and aspirations,” the coach said.
“So change becomes almost inevitable, you know, on every staff.”

Smith’s suspension: Saban was asked if Andre Smith’s suspension for the game, reportedly due to alleged improper or inappropriate contact with an agent, put a stain on the season.

“Well, I think it’s disappointing any time you have a circumstance like this,” the coach said. “But it goes right back to the same thing. You know, everybody has a responsibility to what’s right. Any time anybody violates their Code of Conduct, their principles and values of what is right — and that supercedes nobody, including me — there can be consequences for that.”

Saban said other players can learn from the situation. He said it will be a challenge to deal with that adversity.
“It will be interesting to see how our team responds to that,” Saban said.

Comparing Utah: Alabama’s coach typically detests comparison questions or hypothetical questions, but answered when asked how Utah would do against an SEC-type schedule.

“I think they’re a top 10 team in the country and I think rightfully so for what they’ve accomplished and the competition that they’ve played against,” Saban said. “We feel like they’re one of the best teams we played against all year.

“I think they’ve got as a fine a quarterback (Brian Johnson) with as good a passing efficiency and accuracy as we’ve played against all year. ...

“They’re one of the top defensive teams in the country. They have one of the top turnover margins of any team in the country. They have very good players. They’re very well-coached. They play with a lot of discipline. They execute extremely well. I think they would be very, very competitive in any league that they would have to play in.”

Saban shares awards: Saban earned two more coach of the year awards during the week. He is the Walter Camp and Liberty Mutual coach of the year.

He was named the Home Depot coach of the year in mid-December.

“I think these should be Team of the Year awards. ‘Team’ being everybody associated with our organization,” Saban said Thursday. “We have a high standard of what we want to try to aspire to, me personally, as well as everyone in the organization.”

The coaches recognized coaches, support staff and players. “You can only accept these types of awards with all those people in mind,” he said.

Recruiting trail: Although this is a dead period for recruiting, the Web site Crimson Confidential reported some news. Trent Richardson, the nation’s top-rated running back from Pensacola, Fla., who committed to Alabama last summer, has scheduled recruiting visits to other schools in January.

Richardson said he’s still committed, but wanted to be sure he’s going to be at the best place for him.

He will visit Alabama on the weekend of Jan. 9, Crimson Confidential reported, then visit Florida and LSU on the next two weekends. Richardson told the Web site he also wants to visit Florida State.