Eagles Assistant Does About-Face, Heads to Alabama

Jay Valai's stint as assistant CB coach in Philadelphia was a short one

PHILADELPHIA - Jay Valai was officially named part of Nick Sirianni’s first Eagles coaching staff on Thursday and less than 24 hours later he’s reportedly on his way out the door for a position on Nick Saban’s Alabama coaching staff.

Sources: #Alabama is expected to hire Jay Valai, most recently #Eagles cornerbacks coach, as cornerbacks coach. Valai spent last season at #Texas, went briefly to #Houston and then the Eagles, but is set to join Nick Saban's staff as Karl Scott's replacement at CBs.

— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) February 12, 2021

The Crimson Tide were in the market for a new secondary coach after losing Karl Scott to the Minnesota Vikings earlier this week, and Valai is the choice.

Valai has had an eventful winter leaving the University of Houston for the Eagles just days after getting the cornerbacks coaching position there.

He was set to be Dennard Wilson’s assistant defensive backfield coach in Philadelphia.

Last season, Valai was at the University of Texas but was not retained by new coach Steve Sarkisian following Tom Herman’s departure.

The Alabama secondary job undoubtedly is a higher-paying gig than an assistant position coaching job in the NFL.

It will be Valai's fourth job since the end of the 2020 college football season - Texas, Houston, the Eagles, and now Alabama - which is kind of amazing.

Before the musical chairs began, Valai coached at Rutgers and Georgia at the college level. He also spent 2018 on Andy Reid's staff in Kansas City as defensive quality control and assistant defensive backs coach.

-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John every Monday and Friday on SIRIUSXM’s Tony Bruno Show with Harry Mayes, and every Tuesday and Thursday with Eytan Shander on SBNation Radio. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s EagleMaven. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.