Everybody, Joe Kines...Joe Kines, everybody.
image courtesy of rolltide.com
Kines is probably the oldest guy you will hear mentinoned for this job. Born in 1944, Kines attended Jacksonville State and began his coaching career there. He's also coached linebackers at Clemson, Florida, and with the Tampa Bay Bucs, and has been defensive coordinator at Florida, Arkansas, and Georgia, before his current job as defensive coordinator and interim head coach at Alabama.
We start with Kines because We've been doing our homework.
Pros: Kines has a wealth of experience, and his Tide defenses have been outstanding in every measure. Remember the Alabama '05 post-Prothro offense? He's the reason they only lost two despite being unable to score more than 17 points in a game. It is rumored that, during last year's game with Tennessee, Kines yelled, "What you're only giving us 6 points? Hell y'all can't score more than 3 on me, Fulmer." Also, Kines has expertise with linebackers, which is good if we keep Akina on staff, because Duane already has the secondary coaching down...to an extent.
Cons: Kines isn't the young up-and-comer type that the last two hires were. This could turn out to be an advantage if it means a great D coordinator that will stay more than two seasons, but, on the other side of the coin, he can't have too too many years of coaching left in him. I mean the dude's 62, and he could be crazy, but it's not often that you find someone who's "Paterno" crazy.
Scheme could also be an issue. Kines runs a 4-2-5 at Alabama, and he's had great success with it, but, at least immediately, that will be a problem because of our lack of depth and experience in the secondary. Imagine Dion Beasley, Brandon Foster, Ryan Palmer, and Robert Joseph all out on the field at the same time with Marcus Griffin as the sole returning starter with them. Obviously Kines can adapt his scheme to fit the people, but a lot of Kines' success has come with the 4-2-5, and it might be harder for him to succeed in a more traditional alignment.
This whole discussion could be moot if the new Alabama coach decides to keep Kines, either voluntarily or at the behest of Mal Moore.
Stay tuned for more looks at D coordinator prospects.
--AR--