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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Zabien Brown appreciates the difference a year can make. This time last year, the Alabama cornerback was one of many blue-chip recruits who signed to play under Nick Saban before his abrupt retirement and decided to stay to play under Kalen DeBoer.
One year later, Brown said the vibe in the building has changed. Advertisement “It’s a new team, completely,” Brown said. “Everybody is moving around differently, talking differently.
We have a lot ahead of us.” Brown was a bright spot for Alabama last season, starting in every game and playing at a high level, culminating in an All-SEC freshman team selection. This spring has been about taking the next step in his development, which he characterized as playing faster with a year under his belt.
It’s a goal shared by the entire secondary, with legitimate optimism that it could be one of the best position groups on the team, if not the best. Saying that after a year of change for the defensive backs in 2024 is one of Alabama’s biggest storylines this spring. The roster attrition following Saban’s departure is well documented, and no group was more affected than the secondary.
It was the position group that Saban coached, and after NFL Draft entries and transfer portal exits, Alabama had only four players returning from the 2023 season. Only one, Malachi Moore, had started a college game. It was the position group with the biggest questions: How would such an inexperienced, new group fare in 2024 and what’s the outlook without Saban at the helm? The answer, with players like Brown leading the way, is that the outlook seems positive.
“That room, all of a sudden, has got a high ceiling,” DeBoer said. Alabama’s 2024 secondary performed above expectations. It finished 19th nationally in total pass defense, and its 11 interceptions ranked seventh.
The contributors included true freshmen like Brown, Jaylen Mbakwe and Red Morgan, transfers Domani Jackson, Keon Sabb and DaShawn Jones and a few returners sprinkled in. One in particular, safety Bray Hubbard, earned his first playing time last fall. This year’s group is more established, and everyone has returned, except for Mbakwe, who has switched to wide receiver.
But there have been changes: Safeties coach Colin Hitschler was not retained, and cornerbacks coach Maurice Linguist was elevated to the overall defensive backs coach. Alabama then hired alum Jason Jones as the assistant defensive backs coach. Advertisement “Coach Mo has taken over the room, and it’s been great,” Hubbard said.
“Coach Jones with the safeties, Coach Mo (still) with the corners, but we’re one unit. Coach Mo has done a good job of bringing everyone in and making sure we’re on the same page on the back end.” Linguist was an interesting addition to the program, leaving a head coaching position at Buffalo to lead Alabama’s cornerbacks.
After a strong year that saw him develop Brown and Jackson, while building depth with inexperienced freshmen behind them, he will receive more responsibility this fall. “He’s a guy with a lot of drive,” DeBoer said of Linguist. “He’s got high expectations.
He gets after them. It’s some tough love that he brings, and they appreciate that because they want the same things he does, which is to be their best. “He’s a pleasure to be around if you’re the head coach, a staff member.
And that is certainly seen by our players, felt by our players.” Perhaps the most notable impact that Linguist has made has been on the recruiting trail, which was the biggest question mark about the new Alabama staff but specifically with the secondary. From the last recruiting cycle (2025) to this one (2026), Alabama has signed or landed a commitment from five defensive backs, all ranked inside the top 100 players nationally, according to 247Sports.
Four of the five defensive backs from the 2024 class the staff inherited are still in the program. Last week, Alabama landed the commitment of five-star cornerback Jorden Edmonds and has a commitment from four-star prospect Zyan Gibson, and Linguist was the primary recruiter for both. “I just think he’s attractive,” DeBoer said of.
“For a parent, for their son to want to come here and be coached. They’re cared for. They’re loved.
They’re taught at an extremely high level. He does just such a great job in all those ways.” Alabama’s secondary is among the strongest in the SEC and arguably the country.
Brown and Jackson return as the starting cornerbacks, and Alabama added transfer Cameron Calhoun, who finished fourth in the Big 12 in pass deflections last season at Utah. Five-star prospect Dijon Lee is an early enrollee, and four-star prospect Chuck McDonald will enroll this summer. Advertisement At safety, Hubbard and Sabb return as the starters with Morgan and Jones, who both started games last season, competing to start in the slot safety/cornerback position.
Former five-star prospect Zay Mincey and blue-chip early enrollee Ivan Taylor are notable in addition to Kameron Howard and Dre Kirkpatrick Jr., who were on the team last season. “You see big plays being made on both sides,” DeBoer said.
“You see the competitiveness and that iron sharpens iron pieces, making both sides of the ball better. So those skill areas, I think, are improving from where we (were) at a year ago.” It’s also worth noting that a coaching change was compounded by a scheme change.
Alabama transitioned into a much heavier zone coverage team compared to the Saban era. It translated well on the field a year ago, but maximizing the potential is a focal point this spring. “We’re a vision coverage-based team,” defensive coordinator Kane Wommack said.
“We were able to create a lot of takeaways. I think we finished fifth in the country, which was good, but I feel like we left a lot of opportunities out there from the standpoint of our players being able to anticipate. “When you play with vision, based on the quarterback’s drop and where his eye progression goes, you have to be able to react to that and play with anticipation as opposed to reaction, and we’re not anywhere where we need to be yet.
” Another area of emphasis is on cross-training to build depth. The loss to Tennessee last fall, when multiple players in the slot were injured in that game and the staff had to shake up the secondary, is still on the staff’s mind. That position was targeted in Tennessee’s game-winning touchdown drive in the fourth quarter.
Partly due to a few starters missing time, this spring has been dedicated to rotating nearly every player around and with the first and second teams to build chemistry and depth. Advertisement “We have multiple guys that can do a lot of those things,” DeBoer said. “Probably still don’t have the numbers you’d like in that room, the right guys coming in is important for us, but because they’re all really good football players, the quality of that room and us feeling comfortable with them certainly is in a good spot.
” (Top photo of Zabien Brown (2): Gary Cosby Jr. / Imagn Images).
