Alabama
Alabama Coach Kalen DeBoer Names Hitschler and Linguist Co-Defensive Coordinators – University of Alabama Athletics
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama head football coach Kalen DeBoer announced the hiring of Maurice Linguist and Colin Hitschler to serve as co-defensive coordinators and secondary coaches on Monday.
“We are excited to have Maurice and Colin join our staff at Alabama,” DeBoer said. “Maurice brings both head coaching experience and an established record of success coaching defensive backs. Colin boasts a wealth of knowledge and experience, has a reputation for developing the skill sets of the players he coaches and is an excellent tactician. They are both proven recruiters and outstanding teachers.”
Linguist spent the last three years as the head coach at the University of Buffalo while Hitschler joins the Crimson Tide after serving as the co-defensive coordinator and coaching safeties at Wisconsin in 2023.
Linguist led Buffalo to 7-6 record in 2022 that included a 5-3 record in Mid-American Conference play. The year was capped with a 23-21 victory over Georgia Southern in the Camellia Bowl, just the third bowl win in program history.
“I have always had an incredible admiration for Alabama’s long history of success,” Linguist said. “I’m looking forward to the opportunity to help Coach DeBoer continue that winning tradition, while developing our players both on and off the field.”
Linguist spent the 2020 season as cornerbacks coach with the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys. He directed a secondary that forced 10 interceptions while allowing the fifth-fewest passing first downs in the league (180).
Linguist has worked with college secondaries at nine programs. Prior to heading to the NFL, he coached cornerbacks at Texas A&M (2018-19), defensive backs at Minnesota (2017), safeties at Mississippi State (2016) and defensive backs at Iowa State (2014-15). His first full-time job was at Valdosta State (2008) before coaching safeties at James Madison (2009-11) and defensive backs at Buffalo (2012-13).
Linguist began at Baylor, his alma mater, as a graduate assistant. He earned honorable mention All-Big 12 honors on the field for the Bears. A native of Dallas, Texas, Linguist graduated from Baylor with degrees in communications (2006) and a master’s in health, human performance and recreation (2007). Linguist and his wife, Stacie, have one daughter, Maura, and two sons, Lance and Leon.
In Hitschler’s one season with the Badgers, safety Hunter Wohler led the team in tackles with 120 to go along with two interceptions and six pass deflections. Wisconsin finished the year ranked 20th nationally in scoring defense (20.2 ppg) and 34th in pass efficiency defense.
“I have worked in this state, and I understand the importance of Alabama football and its winning tradition,” Hitschler said. “I am excited to have the chance to continue to uphold the Alabama standard while helping the young men in this program to become the best versions of themselves.”
He joined Cincinnati as a quality control coach in 2018 and took over as the safeties coach in 2020. Hitschler was named Football Scoop’s Defensive Backs Coach of the Year in 2020 and one of the “rising-star assistants you need to know” by On3 for 2022.
Led by the nation’s best pass defense, Cincinnati secured its first-ever 13-0 record in 2021, winning a second-straight American Athletic Conference Championship and advancing to the College Football Playoff.
Hitschler came to UC after four seasons at the University of South Alabama. He coached the safeties in 2017, served as the director of football operations from 2015-16 and was a defensive graduate assistant in 2014.
Prior to joining the Jaguars staff, he was a graduate assistant at Arkansas State in 2013. In 2012, he was the defensive backs coach, special teams and recruiting coordinator at Widener University, helping the Pride go 11-1.
A native of Philadelphia, Hitschler wrestled at Pennsylvania for four years before earning his degree in communications and commerce in 2010. He and his wife Rebecca were married in the summer of 2016, and the couple has two daughters, Catherine and Isabel.
While appropriate members of The Board of Trustees have been notified of the proposed terms and conditions of this proposed appointment, the financial terms remain subject to approval by The Board of Trustees.
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Alabama
Southern 88-85 Alabama A&M (Mar 5, 2026) Game Recap – ESPN
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — — Terrance Dixon Jr.’s 19 points helped Southern defeat Alabama A&M 88-85 on Thursday.
Dixon shot 7 of 10 from the field and 5 of 6 from the free-throw line for the Jaguars (15-16, 11-7 Southwestern Athletic Conference). Michael Jacobs scored 15 points while going 4 of 11 and 7 of 9 from the free-throw line, and added five rebounds. AJ Barnes shot 3 for 7 (1 for 3 from 3-point range) and 7 of 8 from the free-throw line to finish with 14 points, while adding six rebounds.
Koron Davis finished with 23 points for the Bulldogs (17-14, 10-8). James Graham added 19 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and two steals for Alabama A&M. Kintavious Dozier also had 12 points.
The Jaguars led by 10 points with 59 seconds to go, before the Bulldogs executed a three-point play from Bilal Abdur-Rahim then got a 3-pointer from Dozier in the span of nine seconds, cutting the deficit to four. A free throw battle closed out the result for the Jaguars.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
Alabama
Top-30 overall recruit Jaxon Richardson commits to Alabama
Jaxon Richardson, the No. 27 overall recruit in the 2026 class per the Rivals Industry Ranking, has committed to Alabama.
The 6-foot-6 four-star small forward out of Southeastern Prep (FL) ultimately chose the Crimson Tide over USC, Creighton, and Ole Miss. He also received offers from Miami, Cincinnati, Michigan, Florida, Villanova, and others.
Richardson, a McDonald’s All-American, becomes the Crimson Tide’s third commitment of the 2026 cycle. He joins four-star shooting guard Qayden Samuels (No. 28 NATL) and four-star small forward Tarris Bouie (No. 54 NATL).
He’s the son of NBA veteran and two-time NBA Dunk Contest champion Jason Richardson. His older brother, Jase, played for Michigan State last season before being selected 25th overall in the 2025 NBA Draft by the Orlando Magic.
More on Richardson
Rivals’ National Recruiting Analyst Jamie Shaw says Richardson is one of the most explosive players in the 2026 class:
Jaxon Richardson is able to combine fluid athleticism with explosive burst in a way no other player in this class can. He uses his athleticism to his advantage on the floor. He fills the outside channels with a purpose in transition, he is aggressive in the passing lanes, and he plays as a vertical floor spacer in the dunker spots and lob plays. Last summer, playing with the Florida Rebels on Nike’s EYBL Circuit, the 6-foot-6 wing averaged 12.8 points on 54.0 percent shooting and 10.5 attempts per game. Last high school season, he averaged 12.9 points on 61.0 percent shooting on 8.9 attempts per game. He is a highly efficient player, as 84.4 percent of his makes last high school season were at the rim.
Alabama
Alabama Baseball Ties Stolen Base Record In Win Over Hornets
Alabama baseball cruised to a win over Alabama State on Wednesday night, beating the Hornets 13-4 to complete the season sweep. The Crimson Tide tied a program record with nine stolen bases in one of the stranger contests that will be played this season.
The tone was set for a tumultuous night on the basepaths in the opening minutes of the game. Leadoff batter Bryce Fowler, who exited Tuesday’s game after getting beaned in the head, was walked, and promptly took second base. He advanced to third on a wild pitch in Justin Lebron’s at-bat, paving the way for Lebron to steal second when he was ultimately walked as well.
The successful baserunning instantly paid off, as Brady Neal drove both in with a double to left-center field before John Lemm walked two at-bats later. Both runners stole their respective bases on the same pitch in Jason Torres’ plate appearance, meaning that four of the first five batters of the game stole a base.
Alabama has been exceptional on the basepaths, sitting at 30-for-30 on the season. Lebron, who swiped two bags on Wednesday, leads the team with 12. The junior had an up-and-down night, hitting his eighth home run of the season, but also committing an error at shortstop for the fourth consecutive game.
“Get those things out of there now, baby. The dude is unbelievable,” an unconcerned Rob Vaughn said on Tuesday of Lebron’s errors. “We’re going to look up at the end of the year, and that guy is going to have five or six errors, which one he’s got right now, and we’ll be like, ‘Man, that guy is the best of all time to do it.’”
Wednesday’s game was a very prototypical midweek contest with no shortage of quirks and oddities throughout its nearly four-hour runtime. Fifteen Alabama batters were walked, falling just one shy of the program record, and the hit by pitch record was tied as seven batters were plunked.
The game was never competitive from an on-field standpoint. After barely escaping with a 2-1 win in the first matchup with the Hornets two weeks ago, this was a far more accurate representation of what these games typically look like, as Alabama now leads the all-time series 15-0.
Freshman Joe Chiarodo made his first career start, allowing two hits and one walk over two scoreless innings. He was named the winning pitcher. Luke Smyers, Connor Lehman, Anthony Pesci and Tate Robertson were the other pitchers to take the mound. Lehman allowed a three-run blast in the sixth inning, and those were the only runs until the incredibly-named Skywalker Mann drove in a run off Robertson in the ninth.
Perhaps the most shocking figure from the game was that Alabama had 19 runners left on base. The Crimson Tide left the bases loaded in four different innings. As stated, this was just a bizarre baseball game across the board. With the midweeks out of the way, the Crimson Tide gets to prepare for its final weekend tune-up before SEC play as North Florida heads into Tuscaloosa on Friday.
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