This is an opinion column.

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The Crimson Tide had something to prove to begin this new era of college football and Alabama didn’t miss its chance.

On Monday night, athletics director Greg Byrne let it be known that his employer will do whatever it takes to stay on top of the sport in the wake of Nick Saban retiring from the sidelines. These are critical moments for Alabama, and the wolves are always circling.

Byrne probably didn’t expect to give Alabama’s in-house football super recruiter such a massive bump in pay so soon, but Courtney Morgan is one of the most talented up-and-comers in the game. And in this game, cash is king.

Morgan is the football team’s general manager. He’s in charge of building the football roster for Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer. Back at Washington, Morgan was the architect of the Huskies’ team that made the national championship game for the 2023 season. Saban did the job of at least four people when he was the coach of Alabama. DeBoer is different. He delegates and Morgan is his right-hand man.

How important is Morgan? Put it this way. When DeBoer was hired by Alabama, Morgan flew with the DeBoer family to Tuscaloosa for Kalen’s introductory news conference. Time was of the essence, and Morgan used those first hours on the job to keep Alabama’s team together.

Alabama currently has the No.2-ranked recruiting class for 2025 and Morgan is a big reason behind that initial success. He was an offensive lineman for Michigan back in the day, and now he’s the premier front office executive in college football. Players and the parents of players love him, and DeBoer needs Morgan by his side to help run the program.

Southern Cal reportedly wanted to steal Morgan away from Alabama this summer, but Alabama is set to give Morgan a raise from $500,000 to $850,000 this week after it’s approved by the University System Board of Trustees.

College football is changing so fast these days that sometimes it’s tough to keep up. Just look at coach Lincoln Riley out at USC. He fled Oklahoma because he didn’t want to compete in the SEC, and now he looks desperate and weak after being rebuffed by Alabama.

Hey, Linc, got anymore cornerbacks who want to transfer from Los Angeles to Tuscaloosa, or did Alabama already nab the only one worth having?

Oh, and best of luck against LSU to begin the season.

I remember not too long ago when everyone predicted that this new era of college football would give well-heeled schools like USC all the power. The game might be changing, but Alabama is still Alabama.

Saban retired because he didn’t want to manage the salaries of his players all day. More money; more problems. It got to be too much for a coach who liked to have his thumb on every aspect of the program. There just aren’t enough hours in the day.

It’s one thing to recruit players, but an entirely different aspect of the game these days when it comes to keeping everyone happy and out of the transfer portal.

DeBoer doesn’t operate like Saban, and maybe that’s an advantage. Alabama’s new coach hands over front-office responsibilities to Morgan. The way college football is going, personnel directors like Morgan are becoming more important by the hour.

GMs are relatively new positions in college football, but someone has to manage all that money going to players.

The transfer portal and NIL collectives are just the beginning of college football’s transformation to professional sports. Beginning next year, major college football programs will begin revenue sharing with players. In the SEC, teams will have the option to share up to $22 million from its athletic budgets. Someone will have to manage that salary cap.

For Alabama, it’s Morgan.

He’s now the highest paid general manager in college football.

Think about it in these terms. Paul Bryant was the highest paid coach in college football in 1982 at $450,000 per year. Morgan makes almost double that before his first season at Alabama.

This is the first column I’ve written about Morgan. I suspect that it will not be the last. The game within the game has never been more complex.

Keeping Morgan in Tuscaloosa was a major victory for Alabama football, but it also proves something else. DeBoer can keep his assistants around. His predecessor always had trouble with that aspect of the job.

BE HEARD

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Joseph Goodman is the lead sports columnist for the Alabama Media Group, and author of the most controversial sports book ever written, “We Want Bama: A Season of Hope and the Making of Nick Saban’s Ultimate Team.”