Alabama Staff Filled With Former Indiana Coaches Replacing Nick Saban
Coaches from Indiana football's most successful run in recent history will now replace seven-time national champion head coach Nick Saban at Alabama.
After Saban retired on Jan. 10, Alabama hired Kalen DeBoer fresh off a national championship appearance as Washington's head coach.
DeBoer was Indiana's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2019, when the Hoosiers went 8-5 and reached the Gator Bowl. Along with DeBoer, Washington lost tight ends coach Nick Sheridan and assistant head coach and co-defensive coordinator William Inge to Alabama.
That trio, plus the retention of Alabama's strength and conditioning coach David Ballou and the addition of defensive coordinator Kane Wommack creates an Indiana-laden coaching staff in Tuscaloosa.
Alabama plans to promote Sheridan to offensive coordinator, according to a 247Sports report Tuesday. Here's the full list of Alabama coaches with Indiana ties.
- Kalen DeBoer, head coach
- Nick Sheridan, offensive coordinator
- Kane Wommack, defensive coordinator
- William Inge, linebackers
- David Ballou, strength and conditioning
Those five coaches – now tasked with replacing Saban – were all part of Indiana's coaching staff during the 2019 season. DeBoer was the offensive coordinator, Sheridan was the tight ends coach, Wommack was the defensive coordinator, Inge was the special teams coordinator and Ballou was the strength and conditioning coach under head coach Tom Allen, who's now the defensive coordinator at Penn State.
That was a memorable season for the Hoosiers, whose 8-5 record represented their most wins since 1993. The DeBoer-Penix connection sparked an Indiana offense that ranked second in the Big Ten in total yardage and fourth in scoring. That was good enough for DeBoer to land his first head coaching job at Fresno State, where he went 12-6 from 2020-21. DeBoer's rise continued as he became Washington's head coach in 2022 and went 25-3 across two seasons.
Sheridan stepped into DeBoer's role at Indiana in 2020 as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. The Hoosiers maintained their success, going 6-1 in the regular season with the lone blemish being a seven-point loss at Ohio State, where Penix threw for 491 yards and five touchdowns.
Penix didn't play in the Hoosiers' loss to Ole Miss in the Outback Bowl that year due to a torn ACL, and he played just five games in the 2021 season after suffering a season-ending shoulder injury. Sheridan was Indiana's offensive coordinator in 2021, but he was fired after the Hoosiers went 2-10 and ranked last in the Big Ten in total yards. Sheridan spent the last two seasons as Washington's tight ends coach under DeBoer.
Wommack coached at Indiana from 2018-20, beginning as linebackers coach for one season and then as the defensive coordinator when Indiana went 14-7 from 2019-20. Wommack's defense led the Big Ten with 17 interceptions in 2020. That led to him earning his first head coaching job at South Alabama, where 22-16 and reached two bowl games from 2021-23.
Inge's time at Indiana spanned multiple regimes, beginning in 2013 under head coach Kevin Wilson and lasting through the 2019 season under Allen. Inge held various roles, including co-defensive coordinator, linebackers coach and special team coordinator.
A former Indiana fullback, Ballou left Bloomington for Tuscaloosa after the 2019 season and remains there through the transition from Saban to DeBoer. Ballou also made previous stops at Notre Dame, IMG Academy and Avon High School in Indiana.
And now, those five former Indiana coaches aim to continue the legacy Saban left as one of the sport's greatest coaches of all time.
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