Alabama football hires Kevin Steele to return as defensive coordinator | Report
To fill the defensive coordinator vacancy, Nick Saban has reportedly turned to someone who is an old friend and an old opponent.
Kevin Steele has been hired to be Alabama football's next defensive coordinator, according to ESPN's Chris Low. Pete Golding created the opening when he left to fill the same job at Ole Miss.
Steele last served as defensive coordinator for the Crimson Tide in 2007. Steele was Miami's defensive coordinator this past season.
Steele has known Saban for more than 40 years. Steele told The Tuscaloosa News in 2021 he first met Saban in the early 1980s. Saban was Ohio State's defensive backs coach when Steele met him. Saban would later hire Steele to run his defense when Saban arrived in Tuscaloosa decades later.
Before Steele worked for Saban, he made coaching stops as an assistant at Tennessee, New Mexico State, Oklahoma State, Nebraska, Florida State and the Carolina Panthers. Steele also worked as Baylor's head coach from 1999-2002.
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After being the defensive coordinator for Alabama in 2007, Steele shifted to a defensive assistant role for the 2008 season. Then, Steele went to Clemson from 2009-11 to be defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. Steele returned to Alabama again to serve as director of player personnel (2013) and linebackers coach (2014).
He hasn't been back with Saban since, but Steele has been all over the SEC. He joined LSU in 2015 to coordinator the defense and coach linebackers. Then Steele became Auburn's defensive coordinator from 2016-20 under Gus Malzahn. He served as Auburn's interim head coach through the end of the 2020 season once Malzahn was fired. Steele also had a brief stint as Tennessee's interim coach for nine days.
Serving under Mario Cristobal at Miami this past season, Steele's defense was No. 69 in points allowed per game (26.8) and No. 65 in total defense (376.5 yards allowed per game).
His defenses at Auburn ranked No. 38 (2020), No. 17 (2019), No. 14 (2018), No. 11 (2017) and No. 7 (2016) in scoring defense. In Steele's lone season running LSU's defense in 2015, the Tigers finished No. 41 among FBS teams in points surrendered per game (24.3).
Steele's defense at Alabama in 2007, Saban's first year with the program, finished No. 27 in scoring defense.
Nick Kelly covers Alabama football and men's basketball for The Tuscaloosa News/USA TODAY Network. Reach him via email: nkelly@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter: @_NickKelly.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama football hires Kevin Steele to return as defensive coordinator | Report
