I figured Steele would hold out one more season and get a HC job.

Well, I think that is largely the problem. Though Steele is doing very well at Alabama, I’m not sure it’s really helping him towards his ultimate goal of getting another head coaching job. I mean yes we are very strong defensively, and Steele certainly plays a part in that, but no one will ever look at the Alabama defense and say, “Wow, those guys are playing great, Steele is really doing an incredible job down there.” No, they are going to look at it and give Saban almost all of the credit and say that Steele is just going with the flow and not being an impediment to progress.

I think the Clemson move gives him a better chance at a head coaching job. It’s not an upgrade in terms of title, because he’ll be DC at both schools, but with that said in terms of responsibilities and control it’s a massive upgrade. He’ll go from being the DC-in-name-only at Alabama to having complete and total autonomy at Clemson. Again, it’s not an upgrade in terms of titles, but it’s a huge upgrade in terms of responsibilities and control, thus it really makes a good bit of sense when viewed from that perspective.

And finally, though it’s just a BOL report right now and we all know those guys have gotten burned a couple of times in the past by trying to be the first to break a story, this one doesn’t seem to be generating any backlash. For the most part, this one really isn’t surprising anyone, nor is it controversial, so I imagine it’s probably true. I’m sure, though, that Clemson / Alabama will wait until after the Sugar Bowl to make an official announcement.