Getty Jim Harbaugh, Michigan football coach (left) and Alabama's Nick Saban
There were raised eyebrows aplenty when the unexpected bit of Michigan football news came across the wire. At Alabama, coach Nick Saban had made a hire, and it was a familiar name for those around the Wolverines: George Helow, who had been the Michigan linebackers coach for Jim Harbaugh in 2021 and 2022.
Helow had not been working in the collegiate ranks in 2023. Conveniently, just a few weeks before the Wolverines and Crimson Tide meet in the Rose Bowl to open the college football playoffs, Saban decided he needed to have Helow back on board as an assistant.
Underhanded? Maybe. Given the way Michigan football news has gone this year, though, no one is about to lob accusations. In fact, back in Ann Arbor, the Helow hiring was mostly met with indifference. Or, maybe as a sign that Alabama is running a little scared.
That was the thought from linebacker Junior Colson, who worked with Helow previously. He told reporters (via MLive.com), “Who sent it to me? I think it was Mike (Barrett) that sent it to me. I was like, ‘Huh — they might be a little scared.’ You never know. … He’s got a job — I’m happy for him. When we go play them, I’ll probably go and say what’s up to him after the game.”
George Helow ‘Has Been Here Before’
Saban did his best to tamp down any speculation about the hire or its meaning. Despite his time with Michigan football, George Helow does have a history with Saban that goes back to his time as an intern with the Alabama program, and Saban presented the postseason hiring as no big deal—just a busy coach in need of a little extra help.
“George has been here before,” Saban said, via SI.com. “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. So somebody to do a little extra work that has good experience.
“And when we get off the road, being able to give us a good scouting report of what we need to know. So that’s the purpose, just to add sort of a 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.”
Saban: Alabama Not Concerned With Michigan Football Scandal
Saban also downplayed the notion that Alabama has anything to worry about when it comes to the trumped-up Michigan football sign-stealing scandal. The Crimson Tide, as a program, has been around the block a few times and knows that the extra prep time available heading into the playoffs is the ideal time to make some changes to the team’s signals.
There won’t be any whining about Michigan football coming from Saban, at least not yet.
“We always change things up a little bit,” Saban said. “We’re focused on what we have to do to try to get good execution and we’re not really concerned about any of that stuff.”