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Mel Tucker's done his share of college coaching. And for the last 10 years, he rose in the ranks leading NFL defenses.
Now, he's going back to coach with his first employer. The former Chicago Bears defensive coordinator will coach Alabama's secondary, the school confirmed Thursday. His title also includes assistant head coach. News of the hire leaked in aTuesday report from Sports Illustrated.
The move also means defensive coordinator Kirby Smart will move back to coach the middle linebackers after one season with the safeties. Nick Saban said Kirby "has been most effective for our defensive coordinator" coaching linebackers.
Here are a few things to consider about Tucker.
-- Tucker's first job out of school was a graduate assistant position under Nick Saban at Michigan State. He held the job from 1997-98.
-- That wasn't the first interaction between the two. Tucker remembers Saban recruiting him at Toledo in his one season as head coach in 1990. Tucker eventually played defensive back at Wisconsin.
-- After a season coaching defensive backs at Miami (Ohio), Tucker was again hired by Saban. This time he coached the secondary at LSU in 2000.
-- Tucker won the 2002 national championship at Ohio State coaching the defensive backs from 2001-03. He was bumped up to the defensive coordinator job in 2004.
-- The NFL came calling after that. He was the DBs coach for the Browns for three years before being promoted to defensive coordinator in 2008. Tucker held the same job in Jacksonville from 2009-12 and Chicago from 2013-14.
-- Tucker served as the Jaguars interim head coach after Jack Del Rio's firing in 2011. He had a 2-3 record.
-- Wisconsin reached out to Tucker about their head coaching vacancy in 2012, but hesaid he wasn't interested.
-- A story in the suburban Chicago Daily-Herald quoted Tucker discussing some of the lessons learned from Saban: "When we got into coaching we weren't married, but we were engaged. Nick Saban and (his wife), Terry, taught us right away that coaching is not just a profession, it's a lifestyle. We've learned over the years that football and the profession and the holidays, they're all woven together. It just becomes normal. That's just what we do. I can remember being at a bowl game and opening Christmas presents in a hotel room. You FedEx'ed them there. So for us, I think it's not as big of a deal as it may seem."
-- Tucker survived defensive firings within the Bears staff last summer. Chicago dumped its defensive line and linebackers coach while then-head coach Marc Trestmanreleased a statement supporting Tucker as "the right person to lead our defensive unit." He was let go after the 2014 season.
NFL total defense rankings when Tucker was defensive coordinator:
2008 Cleveland ... 26 (356.5 yards per game)
2009 Jacksonville ... 23 (352.3)
2010 Jacksonville ... 28 (371.8)
2011 Jacksonville ... 6 (313.0)
2012 Jacksonville ... 30 (380.5)
2013 Chicago ... 30 (394.6)
2014 Chicago ... 30 (377.1)
Continue reading...
Now, he's going back to coach with his first employer. The former Chicago Bears defensive coordinator will coach Alabama's secondary, the school confirmed Thursday. His title also includes assistant head coach. News of the hire leaked in aTuesday report from Sports Illustrated.
The move also means defensive coordinator Kirby Smart will move back to coach the middle linebackers after one season with the safeties. Nick Saban said Kirby "has been most effective for our defensive coordinator" coaching linebackers.
Here are a few things to consider about Tucker.
-- Tucker's first job out of school was a graduate assistant position under Nick Saban at Michigan State. He held the job from 1997-98.
-- That wasn't the first interaction between the two. Tucker remembers Saban recruiting him at Toledo in his one season as head coach in 1990. Tucker eventually played defensive back at Wisconsin.
-- After a season coaching defensive backs at Miami (Ohio), Tucker was again hired by Saban. This time he coached the secondary at LSU in 2000.
-- Tucker won the 2002 national championship at Ohio State coaching the defensive backs from 2001-03. He was bumped up to the defensive coordinator job in 2004.
-- The NFL came calling after that. He was the DBs coach for the Browns for three years before being promoted to defensive coordinator in 2008. Tucker held the same job in Jacksonville from 2009-12 and Chicago from 2013-14.
-- Tucker served as the Jaguars interim head coach after Jack Del Rio's firing in 2011. He had a 2-3 record.
-- Wisconsin reached out to Tucker about their head coaching vacancy in 2012, but hesaid he wasn't interested.
-- A story in the suburban Chicago Daily-Herald quoted Tucker discussing some of the lessons learned from Saban: "When we got into coaching we weren't married, but we were engaged. Nick Saban and (his wife), Terry, taught us right away that coaching is not just a profession, it's a lifestyle. We've learned over the years that football and the profession and the holidays, they're all woven together. It just becomes normal. That's just what we do. I can remember being at a bowl game and opening Christmas presents in a hotel room. You FedEx'ed them there. So for us, I think it's not as big of a deal as it may seem."
-- Tucker survived defensive firings within the Bears staff last summer. Chicago dumped its defensive line and linebackers coach while then-head coach Marc Trestmanreleased a statement supporting Tucker as "the right person to lead our defensive unit." He was let go after the 2014 season.
NFL total defense rankings when Tucker was defensive coordinator:
2008 Cleveland ... 26 (356.5 yards per game)
2009 Jacksonville ... 23 (352.3)
2010 Jacksonville ... 28 (371.8)
2011 Jacksonville ... 6 (313.0)
2012 Jacksonville ... 30 (380.5)
2013 Chicago ... 30 (394.6)
2014 Chicago ... 30 (377.1)
Continue reading...
