Everything is quite different for Malachi Moore this spring and that is what is concerning everyone. The fifth-year defensive back is one of the remaining vestiges of last year’s Alabama defence and he enters as an elder statesman back to the room. As per the reports, secondary is split this year amid the nearly complete staffing overhaul. In the first-year head coach Kalen DeBoer, the Tide hired two coaches with the same title, while Maurice Linguist and Colin Hitschler will both be co-defensive coordinators and secondary coaches considered the same.
Alabama had two people in similar roles last year. However, it was with Saban’s reverence for the position, here the two players jokingly referred to the DBs as his “babies.” This usually occurred with everyone together to digest a a tough game plan. However, a very subtle change in teaching and alignment is another signifier of a new era in Tuscaloosa.
Talking about the same, Hitschler explained: “He is a smart guy. … I think we have a really great working relationship right away. We understand each other. We have similar backgrounds and perspectives on defenses. I don’t know that it’s going to be black and white. There’s a lot of gray area in how it’s handled. But I think we have different focuses and mentor differently.”
Over 11 of the 14 schools in the Southeastern Conference employ two defensive back coaches. The were generally split by safeties and cornerbacks. (One of the programs that doesn’t, Florida, has two defensive line teachers.) The place is ver unique in that with the elevated co-defensive coordinator titles, Hitschler and Linguist fall just under Kane Wommack in the hierarchy. With Hitschler’s experience, it’s likely that he must mainly working with the safeties and Linguist with the cornerbacks.