One year after taking the job as Alabama's offensive coordinator, Brian Daboll walked off with one of the most dramatic play calls in college football history: "four verts" in overtime of the College Football Playoff National Championship to give the Crimson Tide the title.
Less than a week later, he left to take the same role with the NFL's Buffalo Bills. Who will take Daboll's place?
A source tells CBS Sports that former Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze was in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on Monday. The Tuscaloosa News first reported Freeze's presence on campus. Freeze and the Rebels topped Alabama twice (2014 and 2015) and put up 43 points on the typically-stout Tide defense in 2015 and 2016. Freeze's interest in working with the Tide, according to a source, is not necessarily exclusive to the offensive coordinator position.
Freeze resigned from Ole Miss in July 2017 after the school uncovered inappropriate calls made from his university-issued phone. The abrupt resignation came during the final months of the NCAA investigation that ultimately tacked on a two-game suspension to Freeze in 2018 that applies only if he's a head coach. He would not have to sit out if he's an assistant or analyst.
During his time in Oxford, Mississippi, Freeze's offenses finished in the top five in the SEC in total offense in four of his five seasons, topping the SEC in 2015 with 517.8 yards per game.
The Tuscaloosa News mentioned in the same report that former Florida coach Jim McElwain is also in the mix to replace Daboll and has had conversations coach Nick Saban. McElwain was let go from the Gators in October after three consecutive losses and tensions within the department rose to a level where athletic director Scott Stricklin had to make a move.
McElwain was the Crimson Tide's offensive coordinator from 2008-11 under Saban, helping lead Alabama to the 2009 and 2011 BCS titles.
