Kevin Steele has been coaching football for nearly a decade longer than Tommy Rees has been alive.
Now the 65-year-old Steele is embarking on his second stint as the University of Alabama’s defensive coordinator and the 31-year-old Rees is approaching his first season as the Crimson Tide’s offensive coordinator. They’re at very different stages of their careers, but they share the same mission: help head coach Nick Saban and the Tide get back to national championship form.
Both made it clear Sunday they’re putting their imprint on Saban’s system, not the other way around. Steele, who was defensive coordinator on Saban’s first Tide team 17 years ago, wasn’t biting on a question about returning the defense to “the Alabama standard.”
“That’s kind of a loaded question in some regards,” said Steele, who is beginning his 40th year of coaching. “This process is built — and it started in ’07, I was here. It hasn’t gone anywhere, it really hasn’t. Obviously, offensive football has changed. It’s harder on defense right now at this present time than maybe it’s been in a long, long time. But the process is the process.”
Steele replaced Pete Golding, who left to take over the defense at Ole Miss under Lane Kiffin.
Rees and Steele spoke to reporters on Sunday for the first time since both were hired in February. It’s likely the only time until perhaps leading up to a bowl game or their preferred destination, the College Football Playoff, with Saban rarely making his assistants available to the media during the season. Each of the coordinators is set to make $1.9 million this year.
Alabama lost two games last season, falling short of the annual national championship goal and failing to even make the Southeastern Conference title game after LSU won the West Division in Brian Kelly’s first year leading the Tigers. Rees is now charged with replacing No. 1 NFL draft pick Bryce Young at quarterback, and Steele must find a pass rusher to fill the void left by the draft’s No. 3 pick, linebacker Will Anderson Jr.
Neither Saban nor Rees is tipping his hand if a quarterback has the lead in the race to be the starter with only a few preseason practices behind the Tide, but the head coach noted past history proves a QB competition doesn’t necessarily end with a decision on the opening game starter.
“I’ve told our quarterbacks, fall camp is not the beginning of the end,” Saban said. “You’ve got an opportunity to separate yourself, to show that you can play with consistency and play winning football at the position.
“But that competition goes on and on and on, and we need all of the quarterbacks to continue to improve and to continue to compete even far beyond the time that we name a starter. We’ve had circumstances around here where quarterbacks have changed over the course of the year.”
AP file photo by Vasha Hunt / Tommy Rees, 31, is preparing for his first season as offensive coordinator at Alabama, which came up short of not only a national championship but the SEC title game last season, and now Rees must find a replacement for quarterback Bryce Young, who was the No. 1 pick of the NFL draft in April.Rees is quite familiar with one of the candidates. Tyler Buchner won the starting job for him at Notre Dame last season before getting sidelined by an injury. Buchner joined the Tide after spring practice, when neither Jalen Milroe nor Ty Simpson came close to locking down the job.
“He provides a little bit of veteran presence in the room and adds competition,” Rees said. “I think he’s hit the ground running with the rest of the guys on the team, especially with the rest of the quarterbacks, and it’s been really a healthy transition.”
On the flip side, he notes that Milroe and Simpson both stuck around to compete instead of transferring after the addition of Buchner.
“I think they’ve both improved greatly from the spring,” Rees said. “I think there’s been more buy-in since spring ball ended and just doing more, doing extra to get themselves prepared.”
Age gap aside, Steele has some insight into his young offensive counterpart. He has long known Rees’ father, Bill, another coaching colleague.
“Tommy was unique for me because I knew his dad before Tommy was born, “Steele said. “He is an extremely, extremely bright football coach. I kid him about this — Notre Dame quarterback, Chicago, he’s very tough. He’s got a defensive mentality.
“I don’t know if he’d appreciate me saying that about him, but he’s a very tough football coach, very, very smart. But he’s the same every day. That’s the best part about Tommy, he’s the same every day. He’s got ice water in his veins.”