Alabama has had a vacancy for a tight ends coach ever since Bryan Ellis, the Tide's TE's coach the last two seasons, was moved to coach quarterbacks to replace Nick Sheridan, who was hired as Michigan State's offensive coordinator.
It looks like Kalen DeBoer is close to filling that staff vacancy.
According to CBS Sports' Matt Zenitz, Alabama is zeroing in on Louisville OL coach Richard Owens for the job.
Alabama is working to finalize a deal to hire Louisville offensive line coach Richard Owens as tight ends coach, sources tell @CBSSports.
— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) February 12, 2026
The ex-NFL tight end produced seven All-ACC picks the last three years. Helped the team rank top 15 in sacks allowed and yards/carry in 2024. pic.twitter.com/1OPR65hbuj
Alabama expected to hire Louisville OL coach Richard Owens to coach TE's
This is another offseason move that shows how serious DeBoer is about fixing Alabama's struggling run game.
Owens has been Louisville's offensive line coach the past three seasons, and has helped the Cardinals to one of the most prolific offenses in the ACC.
Owens played TE at Louisville from 1999-2003 before carving out a short NFL career with the Minnesota Vikings and St. Louis Rams.
He has alternated between coaching offensive lines and tight ends throughout his career. He has made various stops at UAB, South Alabama, Georgia Southern, and Louisville. Owens and Alabama DC Kane Wommack were on the same staff at South Alabama in 2016 and 2017 when Wommack was the Jaguars' defensive coordinator, and Owens coached the offensive line.
The TE room is an integral part of the ground game, and it's clear with DeBoer targeting Owens that he is dead-set on fixing the Crimson Tide's biggest weakness in 2026.
The Crimson Tide had one of the nation's worst rushing offenses in 2025, and have completely re-tooled the offense to fix it. Alabama will have a new starter at RB with competition between returning players Daniel Hill, Kevin Riley, and AK Dear with 5-star freshman EJ Crowell.
Alabama overhauled the offensive line completely in the Transfer Portal and then fired Chris Kapilovic. DeBoer hired USC analyst and veteran OL coach Adrian Klemm to replace Kapilovic, and he will work in tandem with the Tide's new TE coach to bring some power and nastiness back to the ground game.