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Alabama Crimson Tide Coaching Staff for 2018

Five new assistants bring a youth movement to Tuscaloosa.

By CB969
CFP National Championship
Burton Burns has been a part of Saban’s Alabama staff since the beginning in 2007.
Photo by Don Juan Moore/Getty Images

It has already been a wacky off-season with the departures of Alabama’s offensive coordinator Brian Daboll to the Buffalo Bills, defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt to Tennessee, and Derrick Ansley to Colorado State the Oakland Raiders. However, the Crimson Tide coaching staff for 2018 seems to be set. Nick Saban will have five new assistants to work with.

  1. Burton Burns: Associate Head Coach/Running Backs
  2. Karl Dunbar: Defensive Line
  3. Brent Key: Offensive Line
  4. Michael Locksley: Co-Offensive Coordinator/Wide Receivers
  5. Tosh Lupoi: Co-Defensive Coordinator and Outside Linebackers
  6. Pete Golding: Assistant Coach/Defense*
  7. Josh Gattis: Assistant Coach/Wide Receivers
  8. Karl Scott: Assisstant Coach/Secondary
  9. Jeff Banks: Special Teams Coordinator**
  10. Dan Enos: Quarterback Coach**

And of course Scott Cochran will continue on as Head Strength and Conditioning Coach. His position does not count against the assistant limit which recently moved from nine to ten.

* The above titles come directly from rolltide.com A few of them may or may not change in the coming weeks. Golding’s title actually just says “Assistant Coach” on the site. The general consensus is he will be named Co-Defensive Coordinator and coach inside linebackers.

** The titles of Banks and Enos are unofficial and as of post they do not appear on rolltide.com at all. While the hirings of these two have not been finalized, they appear to be inevitable - especially since Banks is already on the road recruiting for the Crimson Tide. [ED NOTE: Yes, I am breaking my own commandment by reporting news before it’s official but these two hirings look like slam dunks. They just need to dot the i’s and cross the t’s.]

Also, unofficial but anticipated is Tight Ends coach Joe Pannunzio moving to an off-field administration job. The departure of Bobby Williams to Oregon slides that puzzle piece into place. Pannunzio previously held the position of the program’s director of football operations from 2011 to 2014.

Oddly enough, only two of the ten on-field assistants were with the team for the 2015 National Championship campaign. They are long-time assistant Burns and Lupoi who was in his first season in Tuscaloosa. Of those departed from the 2015 staff, four of them are now head coaches: Lane Kiffin (FAU), Kirby Smart (UGA), Mario Cristobal (Oregon), and Billy Napier (Louisiana-Lafayette). Jeremy Pruitt arrived in 2016 and is now the head coach at Tennessee.

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