Alabama co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach Colin Hitschler has been told he will not return to the Crimson Tide next year, sources told ESPN.

With Hitschler’s departure, there is still one year left on his original two-year contract. Kalen DeBoer’s first major personnel change at the end of his first season at Alabama comes in the wake of an inconsistent 9-4 season that was punctuated with a ReliaQuest Bowl loss to Michigan.

Hitschler worked primarily with the safeties at Alabama, the position group with which he had extensive experience earlier in his career.

Alabama’s defense ranked No. 9 in the country in total defense and No. 19 in pass defense in 2024.

The safety position that Hitschler coached proved to be one of the more dynamic in the program, as both Bray Hubbard and Malachi Moore were responsible for forcing a total of eight turnovers. Michigan transfer Keon Sabb also had a strong season before suffering a season-ending injury on October 21.

Hitschler is a veteran coach who worked for Cincinnati’s squad that reached the College Football Playoff in 2021. There he was promoted to co-defensive coordinator in 2022. He worked under head coach Luke Fickell and spent some of his time under then-defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman.

In 2023, he spent one season as co-defensive coordinator at Wisconsin before reuniting with Kane Wommack at Alabama. He had worked for Wommack early in his career at South Alabama when Wommack was the defensive coordinator there.

Hitschler is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and began his college career at Salve Regina under current James Madison coach Bob Chesney.