Kalen DeBoer will have two former Tennessee Vols assistants on staff at Alabama
New Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer has started assembling his coaching staff in Tuscaloosa and there will be a couple of former Tennessee Vols assistants on his staff. DeBoer, who was hired late last week to replace Nick Saban, is reportedly going to retain running backs coach Robert Gillespie, who has served as […]
New Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer has started assembling his coaching staff in Tuscaloosa and there will be a couple of former Tennessee Vols assistants on his staff.
DeBoer, who was hired late last week to replace Nick Saban, is reportedly going to retain running backs coach Robert Gillespie, who has served as an assistant Alabama since 2021.
Gillespie was Tennessee's running backs coach from 2013 to 2017, which means he was in Knoxville for the duration of the Butch Jones era. Gillespie was initially retained by Jeremy Pruitt when he took over as Tennessee's head coach in late 2017. Two months later, though, Gillespie and Tennessee parted ways.
(Interestingly, Pruitt recently cleared up a rumor that Gillespie allegedly started about Michael Penix Jr's scholarship offer that was pulled by Tennessee after Pruitt took over as the program's head coach.)
Additionally, DeBoer is bringing former Vols graduate assistant Nick Sheridan with him to Alabama to serve as the Crimson Tide's tight ends coach.
Sheridan, who was on DeBoer's staff at Washington, was a graduate assistant at Tennessee from 2014 to 2016. He was key in Josh Dobbs' development as a quarterback.
One of DeBoer's biggest challenges at Alabama will be adjusting to life in the SEC, which is why it's wise for him to secure a couple of assistants with previous SEC experience.
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