Nick Saban Reportedly Adds Former Head Coach To Support Staff

After already adding several former head coaches such as Bill O’Brien and Doug Marrone to his staff, it looks like Nick Saban is adding yet another to his ranks.

According to Matt Zenitz of AL.com, Saban is hiring former Eastern Michigan, Louisville, Alabama A&M and FIU head coach Ron Cooper to his support staff. Cooper has already updated his Twitter profile with the title of “Senior Analyst at Alabama Football.”

From 1993 to 1994, Cooper coached Eastern Michigan, going 9-13 before being hired at Louisville to replace the great Howard Schnellenberger. Cooper went 13-20 for the Cardinals before moving to Alabama A&M, where he had a little more success from 1998-2001.

In four years at Alabama A&M, Cooper went 23-22, winning the an SWAC Eastern Division in 2000. His most recent head coaching stint was an interim head coaching job with FIU in 2016, during which he went 4-4.

Cooper was out of football in 2020 after spending the previous two seasons as a DBs coach at Arkansas.

All in all, the 59-year-old coach has over 35 years of coaching experience, with stints at five different SEC programs. He has coached at the college and NFL level, working under Greg Schiano with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2012.

As for his potential role at Alabama, Ron Cooper specializes in coaching defensive backs. He has primarily coached DBs and safeties for a good portion of his assistant coaching career.

Alabama doesn’t need a coach for cornerbacks or safeties right now given that they have Charles Kelly and Jay Valai in the fold. But with the high turnover rate on the Alabama coaching staff, it’s possible that Cooper could be due for a promotion soon.

Do you approve of the Ron Cooper hire?

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