Saban hires Ansley as secondary coach
Alabama is back to having a full allotment of assistant football coaches.
On Wednesday, Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban confirmed the hiring of Derrick Ansley as defensive backs coach. Alabama had been short a defensive assistant since Jan. 12, when former secondary coach Mel Tucker left with former defensive coordinator Kirby Smart for Georgia, where Tucker is now the Bulldogs’ defensive coordinator and Smart is their head coach.
“We are very happy to have Derrick and his family back at Alabama,” Saban said in a release. “Derrick did an outstanding job when he was with us as a graduate assistant, and he has a very good understanding of how we run our program and what is expected. He is a bright young coach, and he will be a great addition working with the defensive backs.
“We also believe he will be a tremendous asset to our staff in the recruiting process.”
Ansley was Tennessee’s defensive backs coach in 2012, which was Derek Dooley’s third and final year guiding the Volunteers, and spent the past three seasons at Kentucky. He was cornerbacks coach of the Wildcats in 2013 and ’ 14, secondary coach this past season and had recently been promoted to co- defensive coordinator.
A 2005 Troy University graduate and former All- Sun Belt Conference defensive back, Ansley spent five seasons coaching at Division III Huntington College in Montgomery, Ala., before becoming an Alabama graduate assistant in 2010 and ’ 11. He worked in Tuscaloosa with Smart and then- defensive backs coach Jeremy Pruitt, who is now Alabama’s defensive coordinator after filling that role at Georgia the past two seasons and Florida State the season before that.
The Crimson Tide won the 2011 national championship and had the nation’s No. 1 defense both in yardage and points allowed.
“I am so appreciative of the opportunity Coach Saban is giving me because as a defensive coach it doesn’t get any better,” Ansley said. “Having grown up in Alabama, I also have a tremendous understanding of the tradition and history of Crimson Tide football and what a special place it is to work. I look forward to doing my part to help continue the success this program has enjoyed.”
Pruitt and Ansley are Alabama’s two new assistants for 2016. Tucker and outside linebackers coach Tosh Lupoi were the Tide’s new assistants this past season, when the program won a fourth national title in seven seasons.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall @timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.