Former All-American LB is returning to Tuscaloosa in April to assist Kalen DeBoer

Troy Taormina - USA TODAY Sports

Alabama football will have a front row seat to watch greatness instruct and encourage it in April.

Kalen DeBoer has his coaching clinic set up for A-Day weekend, which is April 10-11, on the University of Alabama campus.

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The significant keynote speaker is someone who personifies excellence as a former Crimson Tide player and now a head coach in the professional ranks.

DeMeco Ryans, a Bessemer (Ala.) native, returns to the institution that made him a household name in the early 2000s. Ryans defined what excellence was on defense, totaling 309 career tackles from 2002-05 – ranking fifth all-time in school history. He remains second all-time for tackles in a single-season, collecting 126 stops in 2003.

Great players become great leaders. 🏈
Learn from DeMeco Ryans at the Alabama Coaching Clinic.

April 10–11
Register now: https://t.co/nZAqSTYZ1Y pic.twitter.com/Yw1bUOtijR

— Alabama Football (@AlabamaFTBL) March 17, 2026

The tackling machine had 25 stops in a 2003 regular season game versus Arkansas, good enough for second all-time in Alabama history for a single game. Ryans left Tuscaloosa (Ala.) for the NFL Draft in 2006, following a career that earned him unanimous All-American, SEC Defensive Player of the Year, first-team All-SEC, and Lott IMPACT trophy honors at Alabama.

He grew up through the coaching ranks with the San Francisco 49ers as a defensive mind and it led to Ryans landing a head coaching job in 2023 with the Houston Texans. Houston chose him as a player in 2006, and now he’s the leading man.

Ryans led the Texans to a winning record in each of his first three seasons, making the AFC playoffs.

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He now gets an opportunity to impact Coach DeBoer and his staff on ways to get his Alma mater back to winning championships and being elite.

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Stephen M. Smith is a team writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine.  You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith.