Auburn grabs another piece from its big brother as continues to chase Nick Saban.
It already has former Alabama coaches Lance Thompson and Kevin Steele, but it does not seem to be enough for Tigers’ head coach Gus Malzahn. The Tigers have brought on a new director of player personnel with Thursday’s hire of Crimson Tide alumnus Patrick Sudds.
Sudds was in Tuscaloosa from 2007-13, serving as associate director of football operations for five seasons. He witnessed two Southeastern Conference championships and three BCS national titles. His track record with Saban started in the National Football League during two season at Miami.
Sudds was a defensive assistant in 2005 and an offensive assistant in 2006.
Prior to being hired at Auburn, Sudds was a director of player personnel at Texas (2013) and the assistant athletics director of recruiting at Arizona State. He worked under head coach Todd Grantham for two years (2014-15), pulling in $127,000.
The Sun Devils finished in the top-25 nationally in recruiting, standing at Nos. 23 and 20 respectively in 2014 and 2015.
Its 2016 unit landed amongst the top 30, placing at No. 27.
Talal Elmasry of Saturday Down South and Doug Haller of the Arizona Republic broke the news.
Stephen M. Smith is a senior analyst and columnist for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @ESPN_Future.
