Alabama football, already in search of its next defensive coordinator after Ole Miss pried away Pete Golding, will now also have to fill their offensive coordinator post with play-caller Bill O’Brien headed back to the NFL for the same role with the New England Patriots. That means that Nick Saban, tasked with continuing to beef up the Crimson Tide roster before National Signing Day, will have to also focus on finding new assistants for his staff.

The search for Alabama’s offensive coordinator figures to be an interesting one, given that Saban’s offensive philosophy has changed over the years.

Alabama football has eschewed the traditional style of offense for the newer age, up-tempo and spread-style offenses in recent years.

If that’s the route Saban wants to take with the Alabama football offense, there are not shortage of strong candidates for the team’s next offensive coordinator.

But who are the best options?

That’s what we’ll discuss here.

Without further ado, here are the three best candidates for Nick Saban to replace Bill O’Brien as the Alabama football offensive coordinator.

Dark-Horse Alabama Football Target: Kliff Kingsbury

Let’s get the dark-horse option out of the way. Former Texas Tech and Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury, who was fired after an abysmal season in the desert, purchased a one-way ticket to Thailand and reportedly told NFL teams interested in his services as a play-caller that he wasn’t interested.

But Kingsbury, who went 28-37-1 as an NFL head coach, might have more interest in a play-calling job if it meant a return to the college game, where his offenses undoubtedly had more success than they ever did in the pros.

While Kingsbury did benefit from the presence of Patrick Mahomes with the Red Raiders, his offenses still ranked inside the top-10 in passing yards per game in each of his six seasons as head coach.