Numerous Crimson Tide assistants have changed since Kalen DeBoer of Washington was named the famous head coach Nick Saban’s replacement on January 10. According to Ryan Fowler of Tide 100.9, Alabama hired Chris Kapilovic of Baylor as the offensive line coach and Bryan Ellis of Georgia Southern as the tight ends coach on Monday morning.
Ellis has never coached tight ends before, but in his last season as offensive coordinator at Georgia Southern, he was instrumental in leading the team to a completion percentage and passing attack ranked in the top 30.
Furthermore, Ellis built a squad at Western Kentucky from 2019 to 2021 as the co-offensive coordinator, and in his final season, the club scored more than 44 points per game.
Compared to other assistants joining the Tide, these newcomers have a little bit more transaction history. Scott Huff, the offensive line coach at Washington University, was one of DeBoer’s first appointments at Alabama. This past season, Huff’s team won the Joe Moore Award.
On January 14, DeBoer also took Ryan Grubb, the offensive coordinator for the Huskies, along. However, even with the job secured, Grubb kept looking at other possibilities and was finally hired on February 9 by the Seattle Seahawks for the same role. Huff officially announced on February 11 that he will be following Grubb to Seattle to take the post of offensive line coach.
Between 2022 and 2023, Nick Sheridan coached DeBoer’s tight ends at Washington; however, the new head coach eventually hired Sheridan to fill the same role at Alabama. But once Grubb went for Seattle, he was elevated to offensive coordinator, which gave Ellis another opportunity to work with tight ends.
With the hiring of Ellis and Kapilovic, Alabama’s hunt for an assistant coach has come to an end, since all job groupings have been filled.
