Kevin Steele (born March 17, 1958) is an American football coach and former player, currently serving as the defensive coordinator at the University of Alabama. Steele has previously worked as defensive coordinator at Miami, Auburn, LSU, Clemson, and coached inside linebackers at Alabama. From 1999 to 2002, Steele served as the head football coach at Baylor University, compiling a record of 9–36 overall and 1–31 in the Big 12 Conference. Playing career Steele played three seasons of collegiate football as a linebacker. He spent his freshman year at Furman University before transferring to Tennessee, where he was a member of Johnny Majors' 1978 and 1979 squads. Coaching career Career as an assistant From 1989 to 1994, Steele coached the linebackers under Nebraska legend Tom Osborne. During his six years in Lincoln, the Cornhuskers went 60-11, appeared in six bowl games, won four conference championships and captured the 1994 national championship with a 13-0 record. He coached Butkus Award winner Trev Alberts during that time. He was also an assistant coach at Florida State University, University of Tennessee, Oklahoma State University and New Mexico State University. On January 4, 2007, Steele was hired by new Alabama coach Nick Saban as defensive coordinator for the Crimson Tide. In 2009, Steele went on to be the DC for the Clemson Tigers for 3 seasons, before returning to Alabama as a defensive assistant in 2013. After the 2014 season, Steele was hired by then Louisiana State University head coach Les Miles as defensive coordinator. Following the 2015 season, he was hired by then Auburn Tigers head football coach Gus Malzahn as defensive coordinator. Following the firing of Gus Malzahn in 2020, Steele was not retained, thus bringing his stint with the Auburn Tigers to a close. Carolina Panthers In 1995, Steele moved to the NFL as the linebackers coach for the Carolina Panthers. Under head coach Dom Capers, the Panthers reached the NFC Championship Game in their second season (1996). A well publicized moment occurred during Steele's last year in Carolina. Linebacker Kevin Greene attacked Steele during a heated discussion, grabbing the coach by his clothing. The incident was captured on live television. Steele did not retaliate. "Football is an emotional, aggressive game," Steele said. "Those guys are out there fighting. Kevin is a good person. We've talked about it and worked it out. That's all I have to say about it." Head coaching