The Alabama Crimson Tide's coaching staff just lost WR coach and co-offensive coordinator JaMarcus Shephard to the Oregon State Beavers, who hired the 42-year-old Fort Wayne, Indiana, native as their next head coach on Friday morning.
Per ESPN's Pete Thamel, "Oregon State has agreed to terms on a five-year deal to make Alabama co-offensive coordinator JaMarcus Shephard as the school’s next coach." CBS Sports was the first outlet to link Shephard to OSU.
The timing couldn't have been any better for the Auburn Tigers on Shephard's major announcement for his first career head coaching job, as the Iron Bowl looms on Saturday night under the lights at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
Alabama has many cracks in the foundation ahead of the Iron Bowl
Losing Shephard doesn't mean Germie Bernard and Ryan Williams are about to quit on the team or be lost on the field. If these players and coaches act like pros, since they're all paid like pros, the product shouldn't be affected too much.
But college football is prone to "vibes" more often than not, and there were already plenty of worries for the Tide on their voyage to the Plains.
The memories of 2013, 2017, and 2019 give enough pause, but the game being at night adds to the anxiety, and there were already rumors of coaching exits before Shephard took the Beavs job. This is all before getting into tight end Josh Cuevas and running back Kevin Riley's injury scratches.
Kalen DeBoer has been frequently linked to the Penn State Nittany Lions' opening. It's not been denied, though it's yet to be confirmed. It's fair to say there's at least a decent chance the reason for that is because the Iron Bowl needs to happen to give DeBoer an idea either way.
Besides eliminating Alabama from the CFP's 12-team field on Saturday, Auburn can continue sending coaches out of town. With Sheppard now out the door, the floodgates may or may not already be open.