Aaron Suttles
TideSports.com Senior Writer
Another offseason brought about more coaching staff changes, a yearly occurrence when your staff is considered among the best in the country.
Two new incoming defensive coaches, Mel Tucker and Tosh Lupoi, replaced two departing defensive coaches, Kevin Steele and Lance Thompson. Defensive coordinator Kirby Smart moved from coaching the secondary back to linebackers, a position he's coached before, in a move he labeled "exciting."
Erin Nelson
New defensive backs coach Mel Tucker arrived at Alabama after a long NFL stint, but previously coached with Nick Saban.
Holding onto offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin for at least one more season was a coup for head coach Nick Saban, considering the work Kiffin did with Blake Sims last year.
Aside from the experience of working for Saban, Tucker brings National Football League experience to the secondary meeting room and practice field.
Players immediate recognize and respect his NFL pedigree. For nearly all of them, playing professional football is a dream. They listen to what he says.
"He's brought new techniques for corners and safeties," defensive back Maurice Smith said. "We're seeing Coach Saban's side of it and we're seeing Coach Tucker's side. Having two geniuses in the same room is a big deal."
Smart recognized Tucker's appeal to the players right away.
"Kids really respect him. They know he's got a lot of NFL experience. So he comes in very confident," Smart said.
The experience with Saban helps too.
"He knows all of our terminology, understands it," Smart said. "He's able to relate to the kids and talk to them about it. He does a really good job as a teacher with the kids. He's helped me tremendously from the perspective of, what are new ways to create turnovers? How did we do it everywhere I've been?
"You get somebody with that much experience, with the people he's coached under and with, it's very efficient for us as a defense. So we're able to show, this is how they did it here, this is how they did it here, and when you turn on a clip of an NFL drill, eyes pop open a little more. It's new, it's new change for the kids, it's exciting. It's good for me, it's good for us as coaches."
Lupoi is a defensive line coach by nature, having played the position at Cal. He brings a mentality to get after the quarterback to coaching outside linebackers.
"This spring and this camp, I've learned more about outside linebacker than I have since I've been here," linebacker Ryan Anderson said. "He's been teaching us a lot of stuff. He's simplified a whole bunch of stuff we were doing, and just simplified into two, three moves that we can just be real good at. It's been effective so far in camp."
Alabama's pass rush could use an upgrade; the team averaged 2.21 sacks a game in 2014, ranking 60th nationally. The season before, it ranked 85th nationally with 1.69 sacks per game.
That's why Lupoi was a natural fit for the job.
"That's what we always look for in an outside backers coach," Saban said. "We feel like the most important thing about an outside backer coach for us is not probably coverage, but those guys rush half the time in regular, which we don't really play a lot. Most of those guys become defensive ends when we play nickel.
"I think that's the most important thing that it actually gives you sort of two coaches that when you get in those situations can contribute to guys becoming more effective rushers. I think Tosh certainly can do that."
- See more at: Alabama staff sees some changes for 2015
TideSports.com Senior Writer
Another offseason brought about more coaching staff changes, a yearly occurrence when your staff is considered among the best in the country.
Two new incoming defensive coaches, Mel Tucker and Tosh Lupoi, replaced two departing defensive coaches, Kevin Steele and Lance Thompson. Defensive coordinator Kirby Smart moved from coaching the secondary back to linebackers, a position he's coached before, in a move he labeled "exciting."
Erin Nelson
New defensive backs coach Mel Tucker arrived at Alabama after a long NFL stint, but previously coached with Nick Saban.
Holding onto offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin for at least one more season was a coup for head coach Nick Saban, considering the work Kiffin did with Blake Sims last year.
Aside from the experience of working for Saban, Tucker brings National Football League experience to the secondary meeting room and practice field.
Players immediate recognize and respect his NFL pedigree. For nearly all of them, playing professional football is a dream. They listen to what he says.
"He's brought new techniques for corners and safeties," defensive back Maurice Smith said. "We're seeing Coach Saban's side of it and we're seeing Coach Tucker's side. Having two geniuses in the same room is a big deal."
Smart recognized Tucker's appeal to the players right away.
"Kids really respect him. They know he's got a lot of NFL experience. So he comes in very confident," Smart said.
The experience with Saban helps too.
"He knows all of our terminology, understands it," Smart said. "He's able to relate to the kids and talk to them about it. He does a really good job as a teacher with the kids. He's helped me tremendously from the perspective of, what are new ways to create turnovers? How did we do it everywhere I've been?
"You get somebody with that much experience, with the people he's coached under and with, it's very efficient for us as a defense. So we're able to show, this is how they did it here, this is how they did it here, and when you turn on a clip of an NFL drill, eyes pop open a little more. It's new, it's new change for the kids, it's exciting. It's good for me, it's good for us as coaches."
Lupoi is a defensive line coach by nature, having played the position at Cal. He brings a mentality to get after the quarterback to coaching outside linebackers.
"This spring and this camp, I've learned more about outside linebacker than I have since I've been here," linebacker Ryan Anderson said. "He's been teaching us a lot of stuff. He's simplified a whole bunch of stuff we were doing, and just simplified into two, three moves that we can just be real good at. It's been effective so far in camp."
Alabama's pass rush could use an upgrade; the team averaged 2.21 sacks a game in 2014, ranking 60th nationally. The season before, it ranked 85th nationally with 1.69 sacks per game.
That's why Lupoi was a natural fit for the job.
"That's what we always look for in an outside backers coach," Saban said. "We feel like the most important thing about an outside backer coach for us is not probably coverage, but those guys rush half the time in regular, which we don't really play a lot. Most of those guys become defensive ends when we play nickel.
"I think that's the most important thing that it actually gives you sort of two coaches that when you get in those situations can contribute to guys becoming more effective rushers. I think Tosh certainly can do that."
- See more at: Alabama staff sees some changes for 2015
