Report: ‘Bama hires ex-Huskers coach
On Monday, the Big Ten coaches tried to throw up the stop sign on the NCAA’s new relaxation of recruiting rules. On Tuesday, Alabama ran right through that stop sign, rounded third, and headed for home with the hiring of a former Nebraska assistant.
According to CoachingSearch.com, Alabama is set to hire Kevin Steele in a “player personnel role.” He didn’t coach in 2012, and last held the position of defensive coordinator at Clemson from 2009 to 2011. Steele also had stops along the way at Florida State, Baylor, Oklahoma State and Tennessee but Nebraska fans likely remember him as Tom Osborne’s linebackers coach from 1989 to 1994.
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Perhaps most famously, Steele was the guy who won an intense recruiting battle for Tommie Frazier. Winning recruiting battles is what Steele will likely be asked to replicate for the Crimson Tide.
This is one of the provisions of the new recruiting rules. Coaches aren’t the only people who can contact recruits under the new system which creates an entirely new expectation for a school’s support staff. It also opens up a de facto second career for coaches who have proven to be excellent recruiters but, as seemed to have happened with Steele, may be losing some of their appeal as actual position coaches.
It was assumed that schools would look to hire a de facto recruiting staff, but nobody had made the first move yet. Of course it was Alabama that did it. Of course it came a day after the Big Ten tried to pump the brakes on the whole idea.
Was there any other way?
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February 12, 2013 at 10:06 pm
Great move by Alabama. The Huskers need to support the B1G but must be moving ahead 110% should the rules still go into action. I still think John Blake is a fantastic recruiter. Though tainted, he could maybe run this position. Recruiting coordinator should not be just an additional title for an assistant coach and should get the pay and rank it deserves. A championship team needs these three parts: Coaching, Players and Fans. We have the fan base in spades to help win games. I feel we have a top 20 coaching staff that will continue to get better. Players need to be recruited so we need to do whatever it takes to land in the top 10 in recruiting. Recruiting coordinator needs to work PR as well as style (i.e. Oregon) gets players. I think the NCAA is just uncovering what is already the status quo as they could not control it. Does anyone believe there is not rampant cheating? We need to get in the race or be left behind to play catch up wondering why we did not act sooner. Where's the list of top recruiters?