The University of West Alabama announced a coaching staff Thursday that includes five former Alabama players who won national championships under Nick Saban. Blake Sims (offensive coordinator), Bo Scarbrough (running backs), OJ Howard (tight ends), and Reggie Ragland (linebackers) join a Division II program 90 miles west of Tuscaloosa. Scott Cochran, Saban's former strength coach who left Alabama in 2020, is entering his second season as head coach.
The hirings represent an unusual concentration of recent NFL-caliber talent at a Gulf South Conference school with 2,100 undergraduates. Sims started at quarterback for Alabama's 2014 Sugar Bowl team. Scarbrough rushed for 812 yards across two College Football Playoff runs in 2015 and 2016. Howard was a first-round NFL tight end in 2017. Ragland went in the second round to Buffalo in 2016. None had previous full-time college coaching experience before these appointments.
The template matters more than the names. West Alabama competes in Division II, where assistant coach salary pools typically run $150,000 to $250,000 total and recruiting budgets measure in tens of thousands. Programs this size rarely pull coordinators with Power Five playing credentials, much less multiple players who started in national championship games. The draw is Cochran, who spent 13 years under Saban and maintains relationships across the Alabama network. His West Alabama staff now includes eight former Crimson Tide players or staffers.
For the hires themselves, the appeal is entry-level coaching under a known quantity in a low-stakes environment. Division II offers 10 regular-season games, minimal media scrutiny, and recruiting rules that prohibit off-campus contact until after a prospect's junior year. Coordinators can install systems without booster pressure. Position coaches learn meeting prep, film breakdown, and roster management before moving to FBS staffs where those skills are assumed. Cochran provides the reference and the structure; the former players provide name recognition in a region where Alabama fandom travels.
The risk for West Alabama is operational mismatch. Division II rosters turn over faster than FBS programs, portal rules are looser, and scholarship limits sit at 36 full grants. Installing pro-style concepts with players who may transfer after one semester requires different teaching than these coaches experienced as players. The upside is recruiting momentum in Alabama and Mississippi high school corridors where Sims, Scarbrough, Howard, and Ragland remain recent-enough names to move phone calls up the callback list.
The move also signals Cochran's longer-term blueprint. He took the West Alabama job in December 2022 after a brief stint at Georgia following his Alabama departure. If this staff produces a Gulf South championship or playoff run in the next 18 months, the coordinator spots become viable stepping stones. Sims, specifically, becomes a credible OC candidate for Conference USA or Sun Belt programs that want Alabama ties without paying for an established name. Scarbrough and Howard, meanwhile, get film showing they can teach technique to players without NFL measurables.
Watch for West Alabama's spring recruiting class in late May. Cochran's staff will target Alabama and Mississippi three-stars who missed Power Five offers but want coaching staffs with NFL connectivity. The program's 2024 class ranked fifth in Division II, per 247Sports' limited DII tracking. A top-three 2025 haul would validate the coaching brand and accelerate individual career timelines.
The Tigers open fall camp August 1. Their first game is September 7 against Shorter University, a matchup that will draw exactly zero national television interest but will feature more former Alabama national champions on one sideline than most Group of Five programs employ.
The takeaway
West Alabama's concentration of recent Alabama champions creates a Division II coaching laboratory that could seed Sun Belt and CUSA staffs by 2026.
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