Will the third time be a charm?

Kevin Steele has been named the defensive coordinator for the University of Alabama. He replaces Pete Golding, who took the defensive coordinator at Ole Miss.

This is Steele’s third time with the Crimson Tide under Head Coach Nick Saban.

“I think Kevin is just really sound, fundamental,” said Saban. “You win with execution. Their players really do a good job of executing whatever it is they do. They make really good adjustments to take away what you’re trying to do. And the players play hard, and they play with a lot of toughness.

“I think those are all signs of Kevin’s leadership.”

Steele, 64, was Saban’s first defensive coordinator at Alabama for the 2007 season. However, when Kirby Smart was promoted in 2008 to the post, Steele coached linebackers. He left after that season to take the defensive coordinator post at Clemson.

In 2013, he returned to the Tide as personnel director and, the next season, he coached linebackers. He left in 2015 for the LSU defensive coordinator position.

After LSU, Steele spent five seasons (2016-20) as Auburn’s defensive coordinator and served as interim head coach for the 2020 Citrus Bowl when Gus Malzahn was fired.

After not being retained at Auburn in the 2021 season, he was named defensive coordinator at Miami in 2022 under Mario Cristobal, another former Saban assistant

Austen Shipley is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News.