Kevin Steele recalls his emotions when asked to return to Alabama

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama defensive coordinator Kevin Steele made his first appearance behind the podium since rejoining the Crimson Tide program this offseason as its new defensive coordinator, and on Sunday, he shared his excitement for being back in a familiar setting.

“Obviously excited to be back at Alabama,” said Steele during Alabama’s Media Day. “It’s a very, very special place for a lot of reasons. But the commitment to excellence that touches on a daily basis, no matter what it is, it’s unparalleled. And so it’s exciting to be back.

“As far as defense, we all know this: we have arguably – to some people but not to me – the best defensive mind that I’ve ever been around in the building. So the scheme of how we do things and go about things is Coach Saban, and we obviously help every way we can in that. But we are who we are.”

Steele is no stranger to Tuscaloosa, having been part of Nick Saban’s coaching staff in 2007-08 as the defensive coordinator and then again in 2013-14 in a personnel role before coaching linebackers. Since his last stint, Steele has coached at LSU, Auburn, Tennessee and Miami, where he spent the 2022 season, and didn’t expect the call he received in January.

“Shocking,” said Steele of his emotions when Saban reached out to him. “I did not see it coming. It was not something I expected. But obviously when you get a chance to coach at the University of Alabama for the best coach that’s ever done it, sometimes you look in the mirror and say, ‘Why me?’ But I’m very blessed to be here. You couldn’t ask for anything better.

“If you’re going to coach college football, to coach at the University of Alabama for Coach Saban, that’s what you wanna do.”

Steele will oversee a defense that returns five starters from last year’s team but has to replace several key contributors at every level. He is also one of two new defensive assistants to join the program this offseason. Steele discussed the Crimson Tide’s defensive players and coaches Sunday morning in his opening statement, which he reiterated throughout the interview.

“I think probably the most exciting thing about this group is they are coachable,” Steele said. “It’s a work in progress. We’re focusing very hard on relentless effort, physical and mental toughness, do your job mentality, and they’re very coachable to that, which is positive.

“The thing that probably goes unnoticed sometimes, doesn’t get talked about a lot – I’ve been doing this a while, so I know when it is right – is that we have a very, very strong group of guys in the room with Coach (Travaris) Robinson, Coach (Robert) Bala, Coach (Coleman) Hutzler, Coach (Freddie) Roach. Those guys are outstanding football coaches. They’re very smart. And that’s huge, huge benefit. And then we have unity in there. We get along. The room is very positive in that aspect. So it’s very positive.

“So you put those two things together, you go to work and apply the process that Coach has in place, and then good things can happen.”

Steele was Saban’s first defensive coordinator when the latter took over the Alabama program in 2007 and went on to hold the same position at four other Power 5 schools. He is familiar with the Crimson Tide defense, so much so that he used it at other stops before circling back to the UA campus, making for a seamless transition for Steele – as well as those around him.

“The system I was running was this system,” Steele said. “Now, incorporating maybe little nuances, that happens with all of us. We spend all offseason studying different teams, studying different defenses. The whole staff will bring ideas to the room. We’re always evolving in that regard. As far as for me coming back in here, the verbiage, 80 percent of what is done here defensively, that’s what I was doing at other places. Even the words were the same, so I didn’t have to bring a new dictionary in.

“There are some nuances that have changed since I left. They primarily still stay conceptually within the base of what we were doing, just the application of the concepts. In that regard, we’re always evolving.”

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