Alabama Crimson Tide fills vacant coaching position after poaching former offensive coordinator from unexpected SEC rival
Alabama has named its new WRs coach, and he comes from the team’s most hated rival.
The Alabama Crimson Tide is gearing up for a run in the CFP, thanks in large part to the success of the passing game. We know how much of a slog the ground game has been throughout the season, but the development of players like Germie Bernad and Isaiah Horton has been a tremendous asset to the Crimson Tide offense.
A key driver of said success was and is WR Coach Ja’Marcus Shepard. The only issue with Coach Shepard is that he’s now the head coach at Oregon State, meaning that after this (hopefully long) run in the CFP he’s headed to the Pacific Northwest. Well, Alabama just found the man taking over for Shepard.
Alabama hires former Auburn OC Derrick Nix as WRs coach
CBS Sports was the first to report the cross-state move from Coach Nix. A to Z Sports reached out to a current Power-4 position coach, who worked with Nix at Auburn and Ole Miss for information on what Alabama is receiving.
“Elite, great guy, great coach, great recruiter, not a bad bone in his body,” said the source. For more on the background of Coach Nix and what he’s bringing to the program, here is some info from Josh Taylor, an A to Z Sports Alabama contributor.
“Losing JaMarcus Shepard hurt in many ways for Alabama, and the biggest might be with recruiting off the field. Derrick Nix has a strong track record of recruiting multiple 5-star recruits at both Ole Miss and Auburn over the last few years, and he should fill in nicely at Alabama. His biggest task will be finding a way to keep Ryan Williams around, while continuing his development, and sorting out what looks like a strong wide receiver room next year as well.”
“Nix took over play-calling at Auburn when Hugh Freeze was fired, and he has a lot of experience with the flow of the game. Being able to focus on the wide receivers will be a huge boost for both the players and Nix, who had plenty of options to go elsewhere. He also has very close ties with Kane Wommack, who grew up with Nix.” – Taylor.
Alabama continues to build to a coaching staff that already reunited Kalen DeBoer with Ryan Grubb this offseason, has a tremendous QB coach in Nick Sheridan, and now a veteran and promising WR coach with Nix.
The Tide is rolling with their hires, recruiting, and portal flips. It’s time to see them do it on the field against Oklahoma.
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