In September 2016, Alabama hired Sarkisian as an analyst for their football team.[33] Following Lane Kiffin's departure to become the head coach at Florida Atlantic, Sarkisian was promoted to the Alabama offensive coordinator position on January 2, 2017.[34] He stepped into the role in the national championship game against Clemson. The Tide would lose narrowly to the Tigers in his first and only game of the 2016 season as offensive coordinator.