Last week, Alabama football head coach Nick Saban shocked the college football world when he announced that he would be retiring from the profession after nearly two decades spent patrolling the sidelines in Tuscaloosa. The announcement immediately opened up rampant speculation on who the Alabama brass would decide on to replace Saban's GOAT-sized shoes and move Crimson Tide football into its next era.

The answer came no more than 72 hours later when it was revealed that Alabama would be hiring former Washington Huskies head coach Kalen DeBoer to be Nick Saban's successor, and DeBoer himself has wasted no time in filling in his staff, including his most recent addition to help bolster Alabama's defensive coaching proficiency.

“Sources: Alabama is expected to hire Wisconsin safeties coach/CO-DC Colin Hitschler as an assistant coach,” wrote Pete Thamel of ESPN on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. 

Hitschler previously worked at Cincinnati, where he helped the Bearcats establish themselves as the number one pass defense in all of college football during the 2021 season, per Matt Zenitz of 247Sports on X.

Although perhaps no one in the history of college football can live up to the immense success that Nick Saban brought to Alabama football during his legendary tenure with the program, Kalen DeBoer may just be the cream of the crop when it comes to alternatives. DeBoer just finished leading his Huskies all the way to an improbable National Championship Game run, where they were finally unseated unceremoniously by the Michigan Wolverines.

As the offseason progresses, expect DeBoer and his staff to continue making additions to bolster their revamped sideline.