Alabama offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien, line coach Doug Marrone test positive for COVID-19

Crimson Tide coaches expected to be available for the Cotton Bowl and College Football Playoff.

Just a few days after tightening its health and safety protocols ahead of the College Football Playoff, the University of Alabama football program announced that two coaches had tested positive for COVID-19. 

Head coach Nick Saban and athletic trainer Jeff Allen issued the following release on Wednesday morning: 

“We received notification that offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien and offensive line coach Doug Marrone tested positive for COVID-19. They have very mild symptoms and are home isolating while following all appropriate guidelines. We anticipate both being able to coach in the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl.”

Alabama, the top-seeded team in the College Football Playoff, is set to play Cincinnati at the Cotton Bowl in Arlington, Texas, on Dec. 31. The winner advanced to the National Championship Game to face Georgia or Michigan.  

With COVID-19 numbers in the rise, especially in other parts of the country, numerous sports leagues have cancelled or rescheduled games recently. The NFL played two games Tuesday night as part of the Week 15 schedule, and the NHL started its holiday break early and won't resume play until Monday. 

Meanwhile, problems are beginning to impact the bowls. Texas A&M pulled out of of the Gator Bowl on Wednesday afternoon because it doesn't have enough players to face Wake Forest due to COVID-19 issues. 

Earlier this week, the Crimson Tide went back to wearing masks in the football facility, and reinstated social distancing during meetings. 

The Crimson Tide is set to hold a final on-campus practice today, and then break for the holidays. The team will travel to Texas on Sunday. 

"We let our players go home for the break last year and we educate the families," Saban said on Monday. "We give them a care package with everything they need to say safe, and we have implemented all the protocols here since we've been back that we had last year in terms of wearing masks to meetings, washing hands, social distancing in meetings. And we are encouraging the players to do that when they leave here. So we're really putting the protocols in place that we used a year ago, which was helpful to us. And you know, we're going to keep doing that. 

"Am I'm concerned? I'm always concerned when there's an issue out there, and we want to do the best we can to help our players be concerned about the issue and respect it so that they have the best opportunity to stay safe. We've done a good job of vaccinating our players. We've also done a good job of giving our players booster shots, which most of them, I think we have like over 90 percent of the players have gotten booster shots. So they've really kind of bought into trying to do everything they can to stay safe. But there's no guarantee so we want to use every protocol we can to help them stay safe."

Saban has always been a proponent of players and coaches getting vaccinated, even doing some public-service ads. 

However, the head coach tested positive and missed the Auburn game last year. The Crimson Tide still won 42-13.