Paul Finebaum calls Kevin Steele a 'fantastic choice' for Alabama defensive coordinator

Alabama hired Kevin Steele as the team’s new defensive coordinator and ESPN’s Paul Finebaum called the move a “fantastic choice.”

Steele served as the defensive coordinator at Miami last season but came over to Alabama for his third stint under Nick Saban. Safe to say, that led Finebaum to call Steele’s lateral move to the Crimson Tide a good one.

Steele’s hire came on the heels of Alabama hiring Notre Dame offensive coordinator Tommy Rees to the same position.

“I think he’s a fantastic choice for a lot of reasons,” Finebaum said on McElroy and Cubelic. “Number one, he understands Nick Saban. Probably better than any assistant coach, maybe short of Kirby smart in the entire country they work together. As you know, they remained friends. Even when he was at Auburn, when Kevin was at Auburn, Saban and Kevin still talked occasionally I mean, they’re similar ages. 

“They have vast backgrounds and I think however, Nick Saban got to this point. I really don’t know all the details on Jeremy Pruitt. I think he, number one, has confidence in Kevin Steele’s ability. But I think even more important, he feels comfortable with him on the staff.”

Finebaum also discussed the naysayers of Alabama’s hire of Steele.

“He’s at a point in his life where he does have a lot on his resume unlike some,” Finebaum said. “And I think to bring something up from 15 years ago or whatever it was, is absurd. I mean, Kevin Steele’s had two or three bad games in his life. One cost him a head coaching job, the other one cost him the job at Clemson. But I would argue with anyone who doesn’t think he’s a very good coach. Should Auburn have hired Kevin Steele three years ago instead of Bryan Harsin? I think the answer speaks for itself. They would be in a much stronger position today, but we’re not talking about him in anything other than working at Alabama, where he understands the entire concept.”

Finebaum mentioned Steele joining Alabama was the right fit at the right time. The new defensive coordinator is at a different point in his career than previous SEC stops.

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“I think, is at a point in his career where he’s not trying to prove anything,” Finebaum said. “He will work I think very efficiently with Nick Saban. I think that’s the most important thing to do. And he’s able to challenge Saban where I don’t think Pete Golding really could. Pete Golding was someone who Saban was grooming  as somewhat of a protégé on the defensive side of the ball. Kevin Steele, I have a feeling, at the end of the Tennessee game would have probably gone back to saving on the headset or on the sideline and go ‘What are you thinking here?’ 

“So I mean, I liked that aspect of it and critics are, listen, you can find fault if you want with both coordinator hires, but I think you could find me the least amount of it with Kevin Steele.”