Why I'm warming to Kevin Steele as Alabama football DC for Nick Saban again | Toppmeyer

When this world ends, when we’ve finally managed to destroy each other, and all that’s left of our civilization are the husks of buildings, the roaches and Big Mac wrappers turned to tumbleweeds, even then, Kevin Steele will be coaching college football in the South.

The man is as much a pillar of the South as pimento cheese. If college football is to be played here, then it is to be played with Steele, 64, possessing a place in the narrative.

Florida State. Alabama. Clemson. LSU. Auburn. Tennessee. Miami.

That’s a who’s who of Southern college football. Each employed Steele during the past two decades.

When ESPN reported Sunday that Nick Saban had tapped Steele to be his next defensive coordinator, my first thought was, how unimaginative. Hires don’t get more basic than this one. This will mark Steele’s third stint working for Saban at Alabama.

My first take is not always my lasting take, though, and after chewing on the news a bit, I thought: Why shouldn’t Saban hire Steele? With Saban as coach, the defensive coordinator is an extension of the head man, anyway, and Steele knows how Saban operates. He’s worked with him long enough.

Power Five programs keep hiring Steele to coordinate their defense for a reason. He’s a proven recruiter who develops talent. He offers a high floor. You know what you’re getting in Steele. He’s reliable.

The two knocks on Steele: He flopped as a head coach, and he developed a reputation for rocking the boat under Gus Malzahn in a quest to ascend to Auburn’s head chair.

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My rebuttal to those points: Steele is one of many who failed as Baylor’s coach before Art Briles came along, and being an unsuccessful coach is not reflective of his value as a coordinator. As to the latter, if Steele rocks the boat under Saban, his head will be a spike outside Bryant-Denny Stadium before he can say “Roll Tide.”

Clearly, Saban still trusts Steele as much as he did when this whole thing started. Steele coordinated Alabama’s defense as part of Saban’s inaugural Tide staff.

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That staff included an assistant named Kirby Smart – maybe you’ve heard of him – who had followed Saban from the Miami Dolphins to Tuscaloosa to coach defensive backs. Smart had no Division I coordinator experience, but he’d developed a rapport with Steele.

When Bobby Bowden hired Steele to be Florida State’s linebackers coach in 2003, Smart was a Seminoles graduate assistant. Steele took the Smart under his wing.

“At Florida State, he took me in, brought me over to his house, fed me all the time,” Smart told reporters in 2016 after he’d become Georgia’s coach. “He helped teach me a lot about football.”

By 2008, Saban figured Smart had learned enough to become Alabama's defensive coordinator. Steele remained on staff to coach inside linebackers.

Now, Steele is back to help Saban try to catch Smart’s Georgia Bulldogs, winners of the past two national championships and the new standard-setter for defense. Steele also becomes an invaluable fulcrum on a defensive staff in transition, after staff veterans Pete Golding and Charles Kelly left for other positions.

Joining Steele on staff is Austin Armstrong, 29, the former Southern Miss defensive coordinator and Smart's one-time quality control analyst at Georgia. Armstrong is blazing up the coaching ladder, and you could envision him someday being an SEC coordinator. Who better than Steele to assist Armstrong’s development? Oh, I doubt Saban made Steele vow to be a placeholder or a baton-passer, but Steele’s done it before for Saban.

If Steele is not bridging the gap to Armstrong, then how about Jeremy Pruitt? Pruitt remains in college coaching purgatory after his messy recruiting operation as Tennessee’s coach sparked an NCAA investigation that began in 2020 and is expected to produce a show-cause penalty. Saban has shown a willingness to play the hits, and Alabama has been a destination for a besmirched coach to scrub his image. Steele and Pruitt worked together at Alabama, and Steele joined Pruitt’s Vols staff at the final hour, before briefly replacing Pruitt as Tennessee’s interim coach. Pruitt succeeding Steele in a few years, if he’s released from NCAA jail, isn’t far-fetched.

After all, Steele usually doesn’t overstay his welcome. Five years at Auburn marked his longest coordinator stint. The Tigers never ranked outside the top six in the SEC in scoring defense during that stretch and ranked in the top four in four of five years. Auburn shouldn’t have taken that for granted. The Tigers ranked 12th in the SEC in scoring defense last year.

When Steele left LSU after one season in favor of Auburn, one of his reported motivations was a desire to inch closer to Alabama’s state pension, which requires 10 years of service in a qualified position to receive retirement benefits. Between Alabama and Auburn, Steele has logged nine seasons at state institutions. So, you can see why a return to Saban’s staff would appeal to him in more ways than one.

Steele spent last season at Miami, but you just knew the “U” wouldn’t do.

Miami isn’t the South. It is its own special place south of the South.

Now, this Southern boy is home, and Saban has ol’ reliable back at his side.

Blake Toppmeyer is an SEC Columnist for the USA TODAY Network. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY NETWORK: Kevin Steele: Alabama football DC hire by Nick Saban is smart retread