Kalen DeBoer’s latest staff additions at Alabama prove he’s looking for talent in places Nick Saban rarely did. Since the start of this offseason, he has brought in four new faces to his main on-field coaching staff. Now, word is he’s set to bring in two more coaches, including one straight from the Division II ranks.

On March 3rd, Alabama insider Mike Rodak hopped onto his X handle and spilled Kalen DeBoer’s new double coach signing: “In addition to Vang, Alabama has also hired Mikael Bradford as an analyst. Vang and Bradford were part of Colorado State’s staff in 2023, along with Bradley Aoki, whom Alabama also hired as an analyst this offseason.”

The big news recently is the hiring of Jake Vang and Mikael Bradford as defensive analysts, along with another recent Bama hire, Bradley Aoki. Jake Vang is coming in with some serious run after a quick stint as the defensive coordinator for Central Washington at the D2 level.

It’s no coincidence DeBoer is tapping into this specific coaching tree, as Vang, Bradford, and Aoki all cut their teeth under head coach Jay Norvell at Colorado State. By poaching this trio, Alabama is quietly capitalizing on a pipeline known for grinding out sharp, detail-oriented minds before they hit the mainstream radar.

Before that, he was making waves at Sacramento State. His group of edge rushers was absolutely relentless. Three of his players finished last season with over eight tackles for loss. Vang is a schematic puzzle piece tailored for the defensive coordinator Kane Wommanck’s chaos-driven ‘Swarm’ defense. By adding a coach who engineered elite backfield disruption, DeBoer is arming his DC with the analytical firepower required to elevate the Alabama Crimson Tide’s pass rush after finishing 20th in the nation with 33 or 35 sacks.

Along with him comes Mikael Bradford. He is also joining the defensive analyst room. His experience as a former defensive back at Kansas State, where he contributed to a defense that ranked in the top 30 for sacks and rushing yards allowed, gives him the background of building sturdier defenses, proving adept at coaching safeties. Under him, Kansas State was No. 4 nationally in stopping teams on fourth downs (32.1%) and ranked in the top 30 for both sacks (2.69 per game) and rushing yards allowed (118.7 per game).

Before he was calling the plays from the sidelines, Bradford was a hard-hitting defensive back on the field. He racked up about 40 total tackles during his two seasons at Nevada and helped his team reach back-to-back bowl games in 2020 and 2021.

The third man from Colorado State’s trio would be Bradley Aoki. The Roll Tide hired Aoki back in February to be their pass game specialist. Aoki is a younger coach who has spent time learning from some of the best offensive minds in the country, like Lincoln Riley at USC. He’s got a background as a quarterback and wide receiver. That should help smooth out Alabama’s passing attack as they head into spring practice.

With spring practice kicking off next week, on March 9, these analysts will be jumping straight into the fire to help prepare the team for the A-Day Game on April 11. It’s an ambitious plan. But the goal is to get Alabama back to the elite, dominant level of play that has been on DEFCON 1 for their last three years, or dare we say, since the start of the NIL era.

Stacking the defensive brain trust serves a dual purpose, as a disruptive defense directly takes the heat off a sputtering offense. If these new analysts help Wommack’s ‘Swarm’ defense force more quick tree-and-outs, it buys Alabama’s offensive line the margin of error needed to establish a consistent ground game. All this hiring wouldn’t mean much if Kalen DeBoer doesn’t sort out his biggest issue.

Kalen DeBoer’s biggest area for improvement: Run the ball efficiently

Kalen DeBoer missed the playoffs in his first season at Alabama. In Year 2, the Crimson Tide did make the playoffs despite losing 3 games in the regular season. But the team still had problems. They suffered double-digit losses to a struggling 4-8 Florida State team and barely moved the ball against Kirby Smart’s Georgia in the conference title game.

One of the biggest concerns has been the running game. Alabama’s offense often relied too much on quarterback Ty Simpson’s arm talent because the offensive line and running backs were not consistent.

On Josh Pate’s College Football Show, analyst Josh Pate explained that DeBoer must improve the running game to avoid serious pressure next season. Pate also compared DeBoer’s situation to that of Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian.

“Sark, you could make the argument for, but that’s a totally different kind of pressure. I think Kalen DeBoer is the same way. Sark and Kalen DeBoer are not facing like job security-type pressure this year,” Pate said. “There is immense pressure to level up the performance. For Texas, I mean, there’s immense pressure to compete for a national title. For Alabama, at the very least, do things like run the ball effectively, which leads to playoff contention. That sort of thing has to exist with those two this year.”

DeBoer’s record at Alabama is 20-8 now. Even with that record, many fans are frustrated because the team has lost games in each of the last two seasons, including 2 unranked losses in each year. To remain the head coach long term, DeBoer will need better results in 2026 compared to his 2024 and 2025 seasons, especially by improving the running game.