The Alabama football defensive back room was in crisis mode.
It was January 2024, and legendary head coach Nick Saban, who was widely known for coaching and developing elite cornerbacks, had just retired. To make matters worse, defensive coordinator Kevin Steele had retired, and defensive backs coach Travaris Robinson had left to become the co-defensive coordinator at Georgia.
The end result was rather ugly: 12 defensive backs were gone from the previous season’s team, leaving the Crimson Tide with major holes to fill on the defensive side of the ball and a young and inexperienced secondary that looked primed for a struggle in 2024.
Surprisingly, the Crimson Tide defense performed well and allowed just 17.4 points per game, which was the tenth-best mark in the nation. More specifically, the Alabama secondary allowed just 182.2 passing yards per game, good for third in the SEC, and picked off 17 total passes, the seventh-best total in the country.
Alabama’s defensive back room now appears to be a strength of the team, and a large part of that has to do with Maurice Linguist, the Crimson Tide’s co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach for the past year and a half.
Ever since Linguist came to Tuscaloosa, his coaching ability, what head coach Kalen DeBoer calls an “it” factor, has consistently earned praise from both the players and coaches.
“He’s phenomenal,” DeBoer said. “He’s just a guy in the building, first of all, who brings just good juice and energy, and he’s a pleasure to be around.”
DeBoer’s comments on Linguist appear to be a common sentiment. Players continuously sing praises about Linguist’s personality and how that translates positively onto the playing field.
“Coach Mo, he’s a true role model and father figure,” cornerback Zabien Brown said. “He has a really deep care for us, and that’s what makes you wanna play harder, doing it for someone who wants you to succeed.”
Entering his 18th year of coaching, Linguist has developed a reputation for being a great recruiter. During his time as the head coach at Buffalo from 2021-23, he recruited the best class in the MAC conference in back-to-back seasons.
In his first recruiting class for the Crimson Tide, Linguist was a large part of helping Alabama secure the No. 2 class in the country. He was the primary recruiter for 4-star defensive backs Ivan Taylor and Chuck McDonald, as well as 5-star cornerback Dijon Lee, who confirmed the impact he had on his recruitment.
“We talk weekly. He is definitely a big reason why I committed,” Lee told 247Sports. “We started the relationship pretty late, but we just clicked as soon as we met. He was a great person, and on the field is a great coach.”
The momentum on the recruiting trail for Linguist has continued into the 2026 cycle, as he’s secured commitments from 5-star defensive backs Jorden Edmonds and Jireh Edwards and 4-star Zyan Gibson.
“I like him a lot,” Edwards told 247Sports. “He’s a great guy and a great father. It was really cool just seeing him doing the job he loves, and he’s making a great impact on players’ lives.”
It isn’t just the recruiting ability of Linguist that has been praised. When Wake Forest transfer DaShawn Jones committed to the Crimson Tide last spring, he gave his new defensive backs coach major credit for helping make his transition easy.
“He’s really another father figure to me,” Jones said. “He taught me a lot, making the transition smooth coming from the ACC to the SEC. For that transition to happen smoothly, I can’t thank him enough, and I love him.”
Headed into the 2025 season, the Crimson Tide has the No. 2-ranked secondary in the country according to PFF, and with three Class of 2026 blue-chip recruits already committed, Linguist has done a stellar job of building the team’s secondary from the ground up.
“It’s personality mixed with ability and the want to,” DeBoer said of what makes Linguist successful. “He’s a guy with a lot of drive, and he’s got high expectations, so he gets after them. But it’s some tough love that he brings, and they appreciate that because they want the same thing as he does; it’s to be their best.”
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