Alabama Football: Best-Ever Nick Saban Assistant Coaches
By Ronald Evans
Alabama Football Assistant: Defensive Line
The Nominees: Bo Davis (2007-2010, 2014-2015); Chris Rumph (2011-2013); Karl Dunbar (2016-2017) and Craig Kuligowski (2018)
Few Alabama football fans will disagree this was only between two guys, Bo Davis and Chris Rumph. Bo Davis would probably still be in Tuscaloosa had he not made a couple of minor recruiting, rules violations. The players involved never signed with the Crimson Tide. When the University discovered Bo had made a mistake it immediately contacted the NCAA and had Davis admitted it to his boss when questioned, no exit would have ever been needed. It is a pity because he was and is a fine football coach.
2015. That is all you need to know about Saban’s longest-tenured defensive line coach at Alabama. The two non-consecutive term DL coach oversaw some ridiculously talented players in his six total seasons with the Tide, but his 2015 unit is generational. This was a squad that easily rotated eight different players throughout.
Nine Crimson Tide players in that D-line unit went to the NFL. Six of them, Jonathan Allen, Da’Shawn Hand, Da’Ron Payne, Jarran Reed, A’Shawn Robinson and Dalvin Tomlinson became key players for NFL teams.
Even if he was a better recruiter than he was a developer of players (and we are not saying he was), Bo Davis fielded one of the best D-line units ever in college football.