Alabama to reportedly hire Kevin Steele as defensive coordinator

Alabama appears to have found its next defensive coordinator and it will not be Glenn Schumann it seems. According to a report from Chris Low of ESPN, Nick Saban has tapped Kevin Steele to be the program’s defensive coordinator.

Schumann had been mentioned as a possible candidate for the job, given he is an Alabama graduate and previously coached under Saban as an analyst. Schumann got his on-field coaching start at Georgia, serving as the inside linebackers coach since 2016. This past season he took up a bigger role in the defense, serving as the defensive play-caller while sharing the defensive coordinator title at Georgia with Will Muschamp.

“There’s obviously moments anytime that you change roles with anything in life, there’s moments that you grow and there’s moments where you learn on the fly,” Schumann said of his role at Georgia this past season. “There’s nothing like experience, right, in whatever role, but I wanted to always prepare when I was a GA that when I got the opportunity to be on the field, that I had confidence that I had done everything I possibly could to prepare myself for the next step. Then I felt like I tried from the day I got here I’ve tried to prepare myself for whatever opportunities come after that and to not wait. You don’t wait.”

Steele is very familiar with the SEC and Saban, as Steele was Saban’s first defensive coordinator at Alabama back in 2007. He lasted only a year before being replaced by Kirby Smart in 2008. He left Alabama’s staff after the 2008 season but returned to coach inside linebackers during the 2014 season. He has also been the defensive coordinator at LSU, Clemson and Auburn.

Steele spent this past season as Miami’s defensive coordinator. Prior to that he was briefly the interim head coach at Tennessee and spent five seasons as Auburn’s defensive coordinator.

Saban recently filled his offensive coordinator role by tapping Tommy Rees to replace Bill O’Brien. Rees had been Notre Dame’s offensive coordinator for the past three seasons. Steele will replace Pete Golding, who is now the defensive coordinator at Ole Miss.

Georgia is yet to lose an assistant coach off of its staff this offseason, though offensive coordinator Todd Monken has interviewed for multiple NFL offensive coordinator openings.

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