A developing storyline heading into Michigan's Rose Bowl matchup vs Alabama has been an interesting timed hire by Nick Saban. Former Michigan linebackers coach George Helow has joined the Tide staff in some capacity ahead of the College Football Playoff semifinal.

Helow coached linebackers during the 2021 and 2022 seasons with Michigan. Before joining Alabama last week, he was not part of any staff during the 2023 season. Helow is from the south, grew up in Florida, and played football at Ole Miss. He started coaching as an intern for Nick Saban at Alabama, so the two have an existing relationship.

The timing of the hire raised eyebrows. Helow is not one of the ten on-field assistants for the Rose Bowl. Still, some expected the hire to be preemptive for Helow to take over next season for Coleman Hutzler, who is leaving to be the defensive coordinator at Mississippi State. However, in a recent media appearance, Nick Saban said he hasn't considered next season.

“Look, we’re not concerned about any of that stuff right now,” Saban said. “We got a game coming up. Coleman Hutzler is here, and 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 got to do right now.”

If the hire of Helow is not forward-thinking, then it is fair to assume Saban hoped bringing Helow in would gain some advantage against Michigan. In a media appearance on Tuesday, Michigan defensive coordinator Jesse Minter was asked about Helow joining the Alabama staff.

"He left here, I believe, in January or February," Minter said. "Wasn't working for a team, so props to him, he got hired by somebody."

Regarding Saban's move to gain an advantage, Minter assumes this is nothing new and thinks the move makes sense for both sides.

"Coach Saban has probably done that all the time, probably every year. The guy is looking for a place to work, and had worked with Coach Saban before, so I wasn't totally surprised by it. Happy for him, that's what he's able to do."

In terms of what advantage it could give Alabama, Minter isn't so sure. For one thing, Minter's defense has changed a lot in his second season while Helow was not in the building. Also, Minter says with two years' worth of film, anything Alabama wants to know can be found there.

"I think I've been here now for 27 games of film of our defense, so I don't put a ton of stock in it. I think every week you may call somebody that worked with — I've tried to talk with people that work with some of their coaches and just try to figure it out. At the end of the day, what you see on tape is really who they are. You try to figure out how they operate their system. I think it'll be settled on the field by the players more than anything."

It'll be difficult to quantify what, if any, impact Helow can have on the game, and at the end of the day, like Minter says, the players on the field are the ones that decide the outcome. Still, the hire of Helow and Saban's confirmation it wasn't about next season shows that even the greatest living college football coach is always looking for anything that could give an edge, no matter how small.

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