On Monday, Alabama football head coach Nick Saban declined to assess what both of his new head coordinators had done through six games. It was a typical in-season answer for Saban. The onus on getting the program right was on him as the head coach, he emphasized. Internal evaluations are kept in-house. Throughout a game week, it’s more likely to see Saban talking about the other sideline.

Regarding this Saturday, Saban’s comment about an opposing coach doubled as a chance to discuss a former offensive assistant. Where’s Dan Enos? He’ll be calling plays for the Arkansas offense in Bryant-Denny Stadium for the Crimson Tide’s homecoming game.

“I think he’s changed quite a bit from when he was a coordinator before he was on our staff, and I think being with Mike Locksley, who was the coordinator here when Dan was here, and then having coached for Mike (at Maryland), I think he has changed quite a bit. But in a very good way,” said Saban on the SEC teleconference. “I think they play well and they take advantage of the players that they have and present a lot of issues and problems for you defensively.”

Enos joined Saban’s staff as quarterbacks coach and associate head coach in 2018. He was coming off a three-year run with the Razorbacks and a month-long stint with Michigan. Behind Tua Tagovailoa, Najee Harris and a quartet of first-round wide-receiver talents, Alabama managed 510.8 yards of offense per game.

Within days of the national championship loss to Clemson, Enos reportedly bolted for the same role at Miami. Multiple reports stated Enos had cleaned out his office overnight after being set to replace Lockskley as Tide offensive coordinator. Instead, Saban hired Steve Sarkisian in the role for two seasons. Bill O’Brien replaced him in 2021 and Tommy Rees took the job this year.

Enos and Saban crossed paths before as well. Enos was a first-year quarterback at Michigan State while Saban coached there in 1987. A reporter joked on Wednesday with Saban about Enos running scout-team quarterback against Saban’s defense.

“He’s doing great. I think he’s a really good coach. He did a good job for us when he was here. I can’t remember those days back when he was a scout-team quarterback, but if he says I got on him, that wouldn’t surprise me,” Saban said with a chuckle.

Saban said Arkansas’ offense is “not a whole lot different” from its 2022 version under Kendal Briles. Ironically, Briles quickly left Arkansas for TCU, which led to Enos’ second stint in Fayetteville. With multiple key players returning from last fall, like quarterback KJ Jefferson and running back Raheim Sanders, Arkansas is 8th in the SEC with 31.33 points per game.

Kickoff is 11 a.m. this Saturday on ESPN.

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Nick Alvarez is a reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @nick_a_alvarez or email him at [email protected].