Nick Saban and the University of Alabama may have found its Texas connection to replace Karl Scott.
According to ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg, the Crimson Tide is expected to hire Jay Valai as cornerbacks coach.
Sources: #Alabama is expected to hire Jay Valai, most recently #Eagles cornerbacks coach, as cornerbacks coach. Valai spent last season at #Texas, went briefly to #Houston and then the Eagles, but is set to join Nick Saban’s staff as Karl Scott’s replacement at CBs.
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) February 12, 2021
Valai, a native of Euless, Texas, brings college and pro football experience to Alabama.
He played safety at the University of Wisconsin for four years (2007-10) and earned second-team All-Big Ten in 2008 and 2009. He made an NFL minicamp with the Minnesota Vikings, but nothing materialized from it. Valai soon transitioned into operating his own sports-performance facility and worked with professional athletes from the NBA and NFL, as well as high school student-athletes from 2011 to 2016.
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He would serve as a defensive quality control coach for Georgia from 2016 to 2017. During the 2017 season, Valai helped the Bulldogs earn a berth in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game. That year, Georgia allowed 16.4 points per game. Valai spent the 2018 campaign in the National Football League with the Kansas City Chiefs. He was an assistant defensive backs coach/quality control coach.
Kansas City won an AFC West Division title; however, it lost to the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game. In returning to college, he had two one-year stints at Rutgers (2019) and Texas (2020) coaching cornerbacks.
After accepting a position at the University of Houston on Jan. 20 of this year, Valai left to take a defensive backs position for the Philadelphia Eagles. He coached 11 interceptions combined at Rutgers and Texas and 10 with the Chiefs.
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Stephen M. Smith is the managing editor and senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith
