Former Assistant for Texas A&M Football Joining Kalen DeBoer's Alabama Staff

Former Texas A&M Football DB Coach Maurice Linguist Leaves HC Job to Coach DBs at Alabama Under Kalen DeBoer

In a surprising move that lacks much precedent in modern college football, former Texas A&M football staffer Maurice Linguist, who coached defensive backs on Jimbo Fisher's first staff in College Station, is leaving his post as the head coach of Buffalo to come be a position coach at Alabama. Linguist is the second sitting head coach that has come to join DeBoer in Tuscaloosa as an assistant, with South Alabama HC Kane Wommack accepting the post of defensive coordinator for the Tide earlier this week.

Linguist coached the Aggie DBs for two seasons (2018 and 2019) before leaving to take the same post with the Dallas Cowboys; he was replaced by TJ Rushing. After one year on Mike McCarthy's staff, he departed to take the head job at the University of Buffalo, where he has been since. In his time with the Aggies, he was known as a technically sound coach with great recruiting chops.

As I mentioned, this is a somewhat unprecedented move in the modern game. Sitting head coaches at the D1-FBS level do not leave their posts to be a position coach, even at a school as big as Alabama. We've seen moves like the one with Wommack before, as Sean Lewis left his HC position at Kent State to be Colorado's OC (before Coach Prime demoted him, of course). Lewis now finds himself in a much better situation as the HC of San Diego Sate, so it worked out well for him.

A coordinator job is much different than a position coach, however. Does this speak to the draw of Alabama? To the growing divide between the Power 5 and the Group of 5? I certainly don't think either of those things can be ignored. It should be mentioned, however, that things had begun to fall apart at Buffalo. The Bulls notched a 3-9 record this past season, and several key assistants were departing the staff, so it wasn't a bad time for Linguist to make the jump.

Regardless, whether it had to do with the specific situation, DeBoer's cache, or factors inherent to the position at Bama, the Tide are adding a guy with solid SEC, NFL, and head coaching experience. This is a great get for Alabama.