Daily Archives: February 14, 2013

Kevin Steele returning to Alabama as Director of Player Personnel

Posted on February 14, 2013 by | Comments Off
Kevin Steele as the defensive coordinator at Clemson. Steele is now the Director of Player Personnel for Alabama (AP photo)

Kevin Steele as the defensive coordinator at Clemson. Steele is now the Director of Player Personnel for Alabama (AP photo)

Former defensive coordinator and associate head coach Kevin Steele will be making his return to Tuscaloosa as the Director of Player Personnel, UA confirmed in a statement Thursday afternoon.

Steele was the defensive coordinator for Alabama in 2008 and the associate head coach in 2009 before leaving for Clemson’s defensive coordinator job frem 2009-2011.

“We are excited to have Kevin back on our staff,” Alabama head coach Nick Saban said. “He did an excellent job here previously, and he knows our program from a recruiting standpoint as well as anyone. His organizational skills and people skills make him a perfect fit for this role. As recruiting in college football has evolved through the years, this position is one of the most important on our staff.”

Steele, from Dillon, S.C., will deal with recruiting in his new role, in addition to camps, clinics and other football-related events.

Contributed by Brett Hudson

“I’m glad to be back at Alabama, and I’m looking forward to a new challenge in terms of this role,” said Steele. “I’ve worked at some great schools through the years, and nobody does it better than Coach Saban when it comes to running a program top to bottom. I’ve got family in the state and we love Tuscaloosa, so we are thrilled to be back. This is such a special place, and I look forward to doing my part to help continue the success of the football program.”

Prior to Clemson and Alabama, Steele worked at Florida State under Bobby Bowden for four seasons, winning the Rivals.com National Recruiter of the Year Award once.

Steele graduated from Tennessee in 1981 after transferring to the Volunteer program from Furman.

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Preseason injury plagues Alabama behind the plate

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This is the second of three stories to welcome the Alabama baseball season, which begins on Friday night in Sewell-Thomas Stadium in Tuscaloosa with a 6:05 p.m. game against VMI. You can read the first of the three posts here.

After concluding a 21-34 season in 2012, Alabama baseball coach Mitch Gaspard hit the recruiting trail hard and found a way to compile a class that was ranked 4th nationally by Baseball America.

The class that is being called upon to impact the team immediately has recently taken a hit, as catcher Wade Wass suffered a break in his ankle and will be out for at least the first month of the season

Wass, a junior coming to the Crimson Tide from Meridian Community College in Meridian, Miss., was one of several expected to play immediately.

“It’s a pretty significant blow,” Gaspard said. “He got hit with a slider in the back ankle, you know, one that you see quite often in baseball. You really think he’s going to jog it off.”

The decision on who would replace Wass behind the plate was not a difficult one for Gaspard: he simply stuck with what he’s done before.

“That’s the luxury of having a guy like Brett Booth on our team,” Gaspard said. “He was our every day catcher last year and he’s going to have to be a warrior for us. We’re going to have to ask him to catch every game until we get Wade to return. It kind of changes the rotation of what we wanted to do.”

Gaspard mentioned senior Kenny Roberts among others as potential replacements for Booth at third base as he moves behind the plate.

Contributed by Brett Hudson

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Report: Alabama interviewed UCF coach to fill offensive line vacancy

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As reported by Jeff Fowler of CBSsports.com, Alabama has interviewed UCF’s offensive line coach and assistant head coach Brent Key for the offensive line coach vacancy. The position was vacated by Jeff Stoutland, who left the Crimson Tide to join Chip Kelly’s staff with the Philadelphia Eagles at the same position.

Key, a native of Trussville, Ala., joined the Knights in 2005 and has coached the tight ends and special teams on his way to his current position, plus acting as the recruiting coordinator. Key was an All-ACC selection in 2000 as a right guard during his playing career at Georgia Tech.

Pat Hill, current Atlanta Falcons offensive line coach and former head coach at Fresno State, has also been linked to the vacancy. UA has not commented on the reports.

Contributed by Brett Hudson

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