Report: Former Auburn assistant joining Nick Saban staff at Alabama

Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide are reloading the staff following their runner-up finish for the national title this season. The latest to join the army of analysts in Tuscaloosa is former Auburn wide receivers coach Cornelius Williams, according to a report from FootballScoop.

Williams found himself out of a job in the middle of his first season under Bryan Harsin at Auburn. Harsin fired Williams after the team eked out a 34-24 win over Georgia State ahead of the SEC slate. It was a shocking move by the first-year head coach who’s faced an uphill battle ever since.

After Williams’ departure, Eric Kiesau took over as Auburn’s wide receivers coach. Kiesau was an analyst on the Tigers staff after four seasons working under Harsin at Boise State, including as the OC in 2020.

Williams spent the previous six years coaching wide receivers at Troy. He won four Sun Belt championships and helped lead Troy to three bowl games as a player, was also the passing game coordinator at his alma mater the last two seasons.

Auburn will save some money on the former wideout coach’s buyout now that he reportedly found an analyst position with Alabama. He originally signed a two-year, $600,000 deal with the Tigers.

Former Florida defensive coordinator joining Alabama staff

On Sunday, On3’s Matt Zenitz broke the news that former Florida defensive coordinator Todd Grantham is also joining Nick Saban in Tuscaloosa as an analyst.

Grantham was fired by former Florida coach Dan Mullen last season following the Gators’ loss at South Carolina, along with offensive line coach John Hevesy. Mullen also lost his job in the following weeks after a 6-7 year, including losses to Kentucky, LSU, South Carolina and Missouri. After the departure of their DC, the Gators gave up 52 points to Samford.

Grantham and the Alabama head coach have history coaching together. After spending six years as an assistant at his alma mater, Virginia Tech, Grantham joined Michigan State as defensive line coach under Saban, who was heading into his second season with the Spartans.

Grantham said he learned a lot from him during their time together in East Lansing.

“I worked for (Saban) for three years,” Grantham said in 2020. “Have the utmost respect for him. And a lot of the things we do from a fundamental and philosophical standpoint come from my times with him.

“When I went there, it was probably the biggest adjustment I had to make from a coaching standpoint. Just from terminology, philosophy, how he recruited, all of that relative to coming from Virginia Tech. So that really was a big growth in my career.”

Prior to the 1998 season, Saban promoted Grantham to associate head coach at the age of 31. He left the following year to be the defensive line coach for the Indianapolis Colts.