One of the less-publicized changes to college football for the 2024 season isn’t as obvious as the wave of conference realignment that shifted the sport, but one that coaches will immediately see an impact from. Analysts are now allowed to participate in on-field coaching, a change that benefits large programs like Alabama’s, which pioneered having an army of analysts under Nick Saban.
On Wednesday, speaking at SEC Media Days in Dallas, Saban’s replacement, Kalen DeBoer was asked about the change, especially with regards to special assistant to the head coach Chuck Morrell.
“Chuck Morrell and I go back,” DeBoer said. “We were actually teammates together and spent 10 years together at the University of Sioux Falls. He was the defensive coordinator, I was the offensive coordinator starting out. Our relationship, when it comes to just how close we are, just the trust we have in each other, he’s a guy that’s just as loyal as it gets.”
Morrell joined DeBoer’s staff at Fresno State in 2020 as safeties coach. He remained in an on-field role throughout the new Crimson Tide head coach’s tenure at Washington, serving as safeties coach and co-defensive coordinator with the Huskies.
Kane Wommack jumped to Alabama as DeBoer’s Tide DC. However, DeBoer said Morrell was playing a role.
“He did a great job for us at Washington the last two years, and coming in, he and Kane Wommack have really worked so well together,” DeBoer said. “I know the role has been as an analyst and a coordinator. We have other members that are on the on-field staff that are critical to our scheme and development and growth of our defensive side of the ball.
“But just another great voice, a guy that knows ball inside and out, and I’ll put him up there as one of the best -- if he was a coordinator, when he was a coordinator last year, the best in the country. To have that luxury now with so many great coaches in our program, it’s an awesome thing.”
Alabama begins its 2024 season on Aug. 31 against Western Kentucky in Tuscaloosa.
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