Saban's staff appears set

Nick Saban has apparently completed the hiring of on-the-field coaches for his first staff at Alabama after reaching an agreement to bring running backs coach Burton Burns to the Capstone.
Burns is resigning his position at Clemson, The (Columbia, S.C.) State reported on its Web site late Monday, to join Saban's original staff with the Crimson Tide.
A native of New Orleans, Burns has spent the last eight seasons coaching running backs for Tommy Bowden at Clemson after a five-year stint at Tulane that included the 12-0 season of 1998.
A former fullback who played on three nine-win teams at Nebraska, Burns has been part of six of the top 10 offenses in Clemson history. Burns has tutored star runners such as James Davis, the ACC Rookie of the Year in 2005, Reggie Merriweather, Travis Zachery and Duane Coleman at Clemson and former New York Jet Jerald Sowell at Tulane.
Based on information coming back from prospects on the Alabama campus over the weekend, Saban's first staff looks to be set.
The projected lineup: Joe Pendry, offensive coordinator; Major Applewhite, quarterbacks; Burns, running backs; Ron Middleton, receivers; Steve Marshall, offensive line; Kevin Steele, defensive coordinator and linebackers; Bo Davis, defensive line; Kirby Smart defensive backs; Lance Thompson, defensive line.
Saban has not announced any specific titles for the coaches, nor has he revealed an assistant head coach or special teams coordinator.
Saban has said that Todd Alles, hired away from Ohio State, would fill an off-the-field position, director of football operations.
Rocky Colburn appears to be under an evaluation period as the Tide's strength-and-conditioning coach after serving one season under Mike Shula.
Asked specifically about Colburn last week, Saban said, "You know, I'm not really caring what anybody did in the past. I want to know what they're going to do now.
"I like Rocky, but we all have -- the players coaches, everybody -- have to be accountable to do things the way we want them done around here."
Asked generally about football-related employees on staff, Saban said, "We can't evaluate everything that's here, right now, immediately. I think there's a lot of good people here.
"Some of those people are going to get an opportunity to show what they can do and how they do things. ... We will evaluate people in an ongoing basis as to how they can contribute to this program.
"There's a lot of people that love Alabama here, and as long as they have the same goals and aspirations we do in how we do things and what we want to accomplish, I'm fine with that."
Saban's first recruiting weekend at Alabama looked like a solid one. The Tide landed a Sunday night commitment from highly regarded defensive tackle Kerry Murphy of Hoover, and appeared to firm up their positions with soft commits like quarterback Robert Marve and Kourtnei Brown.
As reported by: The Press-Register

By THOMAS MURPHY
Sports Reporter