Report: Alabama expected to hire Liberty's Robert Bala as next inside linebackers coach

Another Liberty coach could be headed to the SEC for the 2023 college football season.

Liberty defensive analyst Robert Bala has emerged as the top target for Alabama’s inside linebacker job, On3’s Matt Zenitz confirmed. He has been offered the position and is expected to accept sometime next week.

Bala, who was previously the defensive coordinator at Southern Utah in 2020 and ‘21, worked primarily with Liberty’s safeties. He will replace Austin Armstrong, who was hired as Florida‘s defensive coordinator earlier this week.

Alabama football kicks off workouts for spring season

It’s hard to believe that Alabama football is an afterthought in Tuscaloosa at the moment amid the Crimson Tide basketball team’s immense success this season.

With all eyes focused on Nate Oats’ group — for better or for worse — the football team hit the practice field this week to get their spring training underway.

Alabama is coming off a so-called down season, missing the College Football Playoffs for the just second time since the transition from the BCS championship game during the 2014-15 season. They ended up winning the Sugar Bowl, and is expected to be back in the SEC and national championship picture once again this season.

Many are counting down the days until Saban’s retirement — and 2023 will be a prove it year for the 71-year-old football coach. With Georgia‘s back-to-back CFP title wins, many sense a changing of the guard when it comes to the standard of college football. This upcoming season will decide that to be true or not.

SEC analyst Paul Finebaum said he’s still high on Saban and the Tide, but they have absolutely slipped from No. 1 to No. 2. “But that’s as far as I’ll go right now,” Finebaum said. 

“It’s one thing to talk about Georgia and Alabama in the same sentence. It’s another to talk about Alabama and everyone else. I still think Alabama is in the upper elite of college football. What does that mean? I think they are next after Georgia, which is a good place to be considering what has been going on.”

Alabama will kick-off its 2023 campaign at home against the Texas Longhorns. That game is set for Sep. 9 at 12:00 p.m. ET — giving fans more than enough time to mark their calendars. Early odds have been released and shows the Crimson Tide as 8.5-point favorites with over six months to go before the season begins.