The University of West Alabama, a Gulf South Conference program 90 miles west of Tuscaloosa, has hired Blake Sims as offensive coordinator, Bo Scarbrough as running backs coach, and OJ Howard as tight ends coach. Each won a national championship under Nick Saban. They share the building with Reggie Ragland, Scott Cochran, and two other Crimson Tide alumni. The hires were confirmed in late April. Sims coached quarterbacks at Alabama State last season. Scarbrough played seven NFL games. Howard caught 14 passes in Super Bowl LI.
Head coach Will Hall built the staff deliberately. West Alabama competes in Division II, where operating budgets rarely fund marquee assistants. Hall bet that former Alabama players with thin coaching résumés would accept sub-$80,000 salaries for proximity to Tuscaloosa and a path into the profession. The campus sits 14 miles from the Mississippi line. Recruiting territory overlaps with Alabama's three-star backfill zone. A prospect who hears from Scarbrough on Monday may hear from Kalen DeBoer's staff on Wednesday. The locker room becomes a networking node.
This matters because assistant-coach hiring in the FBS now operates on two tracks. Tier-one coordinators command $1.8 million packages and negotiate NFL outs. Tier-two assistants accept $400,000 and hope their position group produces a combine standout. Division II programs like West Alabama sit outside both markets. Hall's model bypasses salary bidding entirely. He offers former elite players a 24-month audition with built-in recruiting credibility. If Sims develops a quarterback who transfers to a Group of Five program, he becomes hireable at $250,000. If not, he spent two years learning game-planning structure he never absorbed as a player.
The risk is execution. Scarbrough has never installed a blocking scheme. Howard has never game-planned red-zone progressions. Cochran spent 13 years as Alabama's strength coach but left in 2020 after an alleged incident involving a player. Ragland played linebacker for four NFL teams and retired in 2021. None has coordinated a position room through a 10-game season where talent disparity can swing 40 points. Division II programs tolerate inexperience because they lack alternatives. West Alabama's opponents do not field NFL-caliber athletes. Hall's staff will not face scheme tests that expose shallow preparation until the Gulf South championship round, if they reach it.
Watch whether Sims and Scarbrough use West Alabama as a 12-month credential builder before pursuing FBS analyst roles for the 2025 cycle. Alabama's staff turns over every offseason as coordinators depart for head-coaching jobs and position coaches follow. DeBoer hired nine new assistants after his January arrival. Another three will likely rotate out by December 2025. Former players with one season of coordinator experience become viable for analyst positions that pay $120,000 and require film breakdown, not recruiting. If Sims produces a Gulf South offensive player of the year, his phone will ring in November.
The broader pattern is clear: elite programs now generate secondary labor markets 20 miles from campus. West Alabama becomes a finishing school. Alabama's recruiting apparatus benefits from maintaining relationships with coaches who remember the building. Division II programs access credibility they cannot afford. The players involved gain structure they did not receive during their NFL exits. The football is incidental.