Report: Alabama defensive coordinator Kevin Steele retires from coaching

According to ESPN’s Chris Low, Alabama defensive coordinator Kevin Steele has retired from coaching. He just wrapped up his first season back in Tuscaloosa, working for head coach Nick Saban for the third time. Now, Steele will be stepping away from the sideline after a successful career.

“Veteran DC Kevin Steele, who just completed his third different stint at @AlabamaFTBL under Nick Saban, plans to retire from coaching, sources tell ESPN,” Low said via X. “Steele, who turns 66 in March, has spent 40 years in coaching, 12 as a DC, and was a finalist for the Broyles Award in 2017.”

Steele took a break during the 2021 season but has been a defensive coordinator at multiple programs dating back to 2015. Auburn, LSU, and Miami have all employed the veteran, with his stint on the Plains being the longest at five seasons.

When Auburn decided to move on from Gus Malzhan, Steele was named the interim head coach as well.

You have to go back to 1980 when Steele began his career, working at Tennessee as a graduate assistant. The Vols were one of four SEC schools Steele wound up working at but the only one where he was not the defensive coordinator.

Kevin Steele improves Alabama defense in just one season

Alabama felt like something was missing on the defensive end under Pete Golding, with fans continually asking for a change to be made. When Golding decided to leave the Crimson Tide in favor of Lane Kiffin and the Ole Miss Rebels, it allowed Saban to bring Steele back and the results were impressive.

The major theme under Steele was making second-half adjustments at the right time. Alabama would be able to smother opponents coming out of the halftime locker room and shut offenses down. Mix in Jalen Milroe getting better as games went along wins began to pile up down the stretch.

From a scoring defense perspective, Alabama was slightly worse off in the 2023 season at 19.0 points per game compared to 18.2 in 2022. However, no SEC opponent was able to score 30 or more, something LSU and Tennessee did during the tough losses under Golding.

Now, Saban will have to once again make a coordinator hire in the offseason, a theme over the past few seasons. Steele was able to bring back stability to the defense and somebody will be expected to keep the ball rolling.