Second Alabama coach in two days bolts Tuscaloosa, joins rival

Just hours after the hiring of Alabama inside linebackers coach Kevin Steele at LSU was made official, another Alabama assistant has left the program.

Outside linebackers coach Kevin Thompson has officially accepted the same position at Auburn, and will join the Tigers’ new defensive coordinator Will Muschamp in his rebuilding effort at the school. Thompson worked with Muschamp at LSU in 2002 when the two were both under now-Alabama head coach Nick Saban.

Thompson leaving Alabama completes his third stint at the school, as well as his third stint under Saban.

The coach expressed how “blessed” he is to join the Auburn family in a statement released Wednesday morning.

“I’m really excited and very appreciative to be joining the Auburn football family and work with Coach Malzahn, Coach Muschamp and the entire staff,” Thompson said in a release. “I have a great amount of respect for Coach Malzahn and what he represents and what he has accomplished in a short period of time. I hope to bring my strengths to the program to help Auburn football achieve its goals of winning a national championship. I’m blessed to be joining Coach Malzahn’s staff and the Auburn family.”

Thompson was in charge of outside linebackers for Alabama, a unit that had fairly productive season, with Xzavier Dickson and Ryan Anderson leading the charge in pass rushing.

This is the second defensive assistant coaching loss in two days for Alabama, and the loss of Thompson hurts the team in recruiting maybe as much as it does in coaching. Thompson is the fifth-ranked recruiter on 247Sports and was ESPN’s top-ranked recruiter following Alabama’s monstrous recruiting class last season. He joins another highly ranked recruiter at Auburn in safeties coach Travaris Robinson.

This can — and will — be spun in multiple ways, depending on where you read about it. It could be seen as coaches jumping at better opportunities and maybe getting a raise in the SEC West coaching arms race. But it could also be seen as coaches either being asked to leave or suggested to inquire about other opportunities in an effort to retool the Alabama defense.

Former Alabama offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier left for Michigan to take over its offense last season, which was seen as an interesting move to leave Alabama over a down Michigan team. But it made a lot more sense when new Alabama offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin was hired.

Alabama reinvented its offense, and while it still needs some work — like maybe running the ball more often — Kiffin’s arrival in Tuscaloosa was a resounding success.

Moving Steele from the player personnel office to coaching linebackers put defensive coordinator Kirby Smart in charge of the secondary, and the secondary struggled mightily this season. The departure of one or both of these coaches could move Smart back to the linebackers and allow someone else to move or be hired to come try to improve the secondary.

These two linebackers coaches were fine coaches and probably better recruiters, but their departures — this closely together — may have deeper ramifications as far as the redesigning of Alabama’s defense. (It’s already being reported that Thompson was asked to find a job elsewhere.)

Either way, Alabama has lost two high-quality coaches and recruiters to nearby division rivals, and it’s doubtful that these two will be the only coaches to leave Alabama this offseason.