Colin Hitschler joining Alabama football coaching staff under Kalen DeBoer, per ESPN
Alabama football coach Kalen DeBoer continues to build out his coaching staff after taking the job not even a week ago.
The latest addition is expected to be Colin Hitschler, Wisconsin's co-defensive coordinator/safeties coach, ESPN and other outlets reported Thursday. Hitschler joined the Badgers for the 2023 season after spending five seasons at Cincinnati.
He will likely serve as a defensive assistant working with the secondary, considering that has been Hitschler's specialty. Prior to working with the safeties at Wisconsin, Hitschler was Cincinnati's co-defensive coordinator/safeties coach. From 2020-21, Hitschler was solely Cincinnati's safeties coach, and during the 2021 season, the Bearcats finished No. 2 in the nation in passing defense, allowing 169.2 yards per game.
Before Hitschler became a position coach, he served as a senior defensive analyst and in quality control for Cincinnati from 2018-2019.
Hitschler hasn't been coaching or working in the South for a while, but he does have coaching experience in the SEC footprint. Prior to his time at Cincinnati, Hitschler worked at South Alabama where he coached safeties in 2017 and was director of football operations and a graduate assistant.
His career began as a training camp assistant for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2009.
Hitschler, a Pennsylvania native, was a wrestler in college at Penn, where he graduated in 2010.
Hitschler is the latest expected staffing addition for DeBoer. Defensive line coach Freddie Roach and running backs coach Robert Gillespie are the only two returning coaching staff members from Nick Saban's tenure, The Tuscaloosa News can confirm. Otherwise, DeBoer is bringing in new coaches for every other spot.
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Nick Kelly is the Alabama beat writer for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network, and he covers Alabama football and men's basketball. Reach him at nkelly@gannett.com or follow him @_NickKelly on X, former known at Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Colin Hitschler: Alabama football coaching staff addition for 2024, per ESPN
