Though Alabama football had a gap between its SEC Championship win and Rose Bowl practices resuming last Saturday, Nick Saban has had a busy two weeks.

Coaches are navigating the transfer portal and recruiting, including any leftover holiday shopping. But the Crimson Tide head coach had one extra item on his list this year. Saban needed an assistant who knew his upcoming opponent: No. 1 Michigan.

On Monday, Saban confirmed he had hired former Wolverines staffer George Helow to join his staff for the postseason.

“I think every year that we’ve been in the Playoffs we’ve tried to bring somebody in … somebody to do a little extra work that has good experience,” Saban said. “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.”

The Athletic first reported Helow’s hire on Dec. 14, days after Alabama special teams coordinator and outside linebackers coach Coleman Hutzler took the Mississippi State defensive coordinator gig. The Bulldogs have formally announced the hire, but Saban confirmed both Helow and Hutzler would be on Alabama’s staff at least through Jan. 1.

Helow was a walk-on linebacker at Ole Miss. He began his coaching career as an intern in Alabama’s BCS Championship-winning 2012 season, first in the weight room and then under then-defensive coordinator Kirby Smart. After, Helow worked as a graduate assistant at Florida State in 2013 and spent time at Georgia, Colorado State and Maryland before coaching Michigan’s linebackers in 2021 and 2022.

Helow, 36, wasn’t on any staff this past season after being replaced by Chris Partridge. Partridge was fired in November though as Jim Harbaugh’s coaches have undergone shakeup and scrutiny amid a sign-stealing scandal. The Athletic stated that Patridge “was one of the coaches who helped” Connor Stalions, a recruiting analyst who spent thousands traveling the country to record and decipher signs of Michigan’s potential opponents.

“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,” Saban said when asked about Helow replacing Hutzler full-time.

Social media has had some fun with the hire, joking that this is Saban’s attempt at recreating some of the Stalions magic. In October, Saban was asked about Stalions buying tickets to the 2021 SEC Championship, which featured Alabama beating Georgia, and declined comment, saying he didn’t “have a lot of background” on the scandal.

In actuality, in addition to Saban’s explainer, it’s another example of Alabama’s hiring techniques coming into play. Saban has explained his strategy of adding sharp, young staffers as graduate assistants to evaluate in-house and have a familiarity with openings down the line. Saban joked on The Pat McAfee Show that was his plan for Dan Lanning in 2017, but Georgia and Kirby Smart were faster.

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