Two Alabama assistant football coaches receive promotions

On Wednesday, two Alabama assistant coaches received promotions. The two were the only position coaches that were retained from the previous coaching staff.

On Wednesday evening, two Alabama assistant coaches were rewarded with promotions.

Running backs coach Robert Gillespie was promoted to assistant head coach. Now, he will be in charge of coaching the running backs as well as serving as an assistant head coach.

Defensive line coach Freddie Roach will be in charge of coaching the defensive line while also serving as associate head coach.

Both were retained from the previous coaching staff. They were the only position coaches that made the transition from the Nick Saban era to the Kalen DeBoer era.

Gillespie and Roach are both elite recruiters and position coaches, so it was essential to have them return to Tuscaloosa for at least one more season.

Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow the latest news regarding the Alabama football program.

Alabama lands commitment from big-time 2023 running back and Georgia legacy, Justice Haynes

Alabama got a big-time surprise on Sunday with 2023 four-star running Justice Haynes announcing his commitment to the Tide.

The 2023 Alabama recruiting class received a surprise on Sunday afternoon in the form of a commitment. 2023 running back [autotag]Justice Haynes[/autotag] announced that he was committed to Alabama via his Twitter account.

Many experts predicted that Haynes would commit to Georgia. Why? His father, Verron Hayes, was a running back at Georgia for three seasons before being drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

With Kirby Smart’s recruiting prowess over the years, no one saw this coming. Here is what Haynes told Rivals’ Jed May about the Alabama coaching staff’s reaction when he notified them that he was committing:

“Coach Gillespie was like, ‘Wow.’ I think a lot of them thought Georgia. Saban said a thing, he said, ‘That just made my day, to be honest. I did not expect that.’”

It caught most folks off guard, but it certainly wasn’t impossible for Nick Saban and the rest of the staff. Haynes took an official visit to Alabama from June 17-19. He also took an official visit to Georgia on June 3. Other schools that received official visits were USC, Florida, and Ohio State. However, it was really a two-team race between the Bulldogs and the Tide to land Haynes’ commitment.

In the end, running backs coach [autotag]Robert Gillespie[/autotag] and the rest of the coaching staff were able to add the No. 4 overall running back in the country, according to 247Sports’ recruiting rankings.

Haynes has played his high school ball at Blessed Trinity Catholic High School, but he is now going to spend his senior season at Buford High School. Other Alabama players that once played at Buford are Seth McLaughlin, Isaiah Bond, and Jake Pope. The commitment is the first running back addition to the class. When Haynes was asked about Richard Young by On3’s Chad Simmons, here is what he had to say:

“Now I will be recruiting Richard Young. I am committed, I know he likes Alabama a lot, and I want him to join me. We can be a two-headed monster at Alabama.”

If that gives any indication, it is that Haynes is going to help recruit other Alabama targets and that he is locked in with the Tide. The Alabama coaching staff is certainly happy to land the Peach state native.

BAMA BEAT: Breaking down the Alabama coaching changes (Ep. 396)

Brett Hudson, Clint Lamb look into the various coaching changes for Alabama this offseason, including Bill O’Brien at offensive coordinator.

Brett Hudson and Clint Lamb take a deep dive into the various coaching changes for Alabama this offseason, including the move from Steve Sarkisian to Bill O’Brien at offensive coordinator.

How did Nick Saban do replacing the five on-field coaches who have left?

 

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List of Alabama football coaching hires in 2021 offseason

The Alabama Crimson Tide won the national championship, but lost a decent chunk of its coaching staff. Here’s an updating list of new hires.

The Alabama Crimson Tide may have won the 2020 national championship, but the program took plenty of losses in the offseason. Numerous coaches have decided to leave the program to pursue opportunities at other programs.

Former offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian left to be the head coach at the University of Texas; former offensive line coach Kyle Flood joins Sarkisian at Texas as their offensive coordinator and Charles Huff, who most recently served as the Crimson Tide’s running back coach, is now the head coach at Marshall.

Hires have already been made, and more additions to the staff are inevitable.

Here’s who Nick Saban and the Alabama program decided to bring in, so far:

NEXT … A new OC.

Report: Robert Gillespie set to become new RB coach for Alabama

Alabama has found its replacement for Charles Huff. North Carolina’s Robert Gillespie is coming over to coach the RBs in Tuscaloosa.

Alabama continues to rebuild its coaching staff after a slew of departures. Of course, that’s part of winning a national championship, and Nick Saban has a fantastic track record of reloading the staff.

That doesn’t mean it isn’t a headache, however. But the good news is that it looks like the Crimson Tide have found a new running backs coach. According to Bruce Feldman with The Athletic, it will be Robert Gillespie from North Carolina.

The move was desperately needs after associate head coach/running backs coach Charles Huff left to take the head coaching gig at Marshall. He had been in Tuscaloosa for two seasons after coming over form Mississippi State.

Gillespie has done fantastic work for the Tar Heels. He spent three seasons in Chapel Hill, and the results were impressive. His first year was somewhat underwhelming, but look the stats for Michael Carter and Javonte Williams over the last two:

  • Carter: 2,248 rushing yards, 12 touchdowns
  • Javonte Williams: 2,073 rushing yards, 24 touchdowns

The two combined for 2,385 yards and 28 touchdowns in only 11 games in 2020, and they also added another 572 yards and five scores as receivers out of the backfield.

Prior to his time at North Carolina, Gillespie was at the University of Tennessee. There, he worked with running backs such as Alvin Kamara, Jalen Hurd and John Kelly.

Gillespie should be an excellent replacement for Huff.

Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion.

Download the USA TODAY SportsWire app to follow Roll Tide Wire and your other favorite teams in the Apple Store for iPhones and Google Play for Android devices.

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