Kevin Steele Compares Culture Being Built at Miami to Alabama

Miami’s Kevin Steele talks Alabama and Miami culture.

Miami defensive coordinator Kevin Steele has seen first-hand how a winning culture is constructed in college football. He was the defensive coordinator at Alabama during the 2007 season, which was Nick Saban's first year as head coach of the Crimson Tide.

Alabama during this time was in a similar situation that the Hurricanes find themselves in now: struggling amid the first season of an established head coach attempting to turn around what was once a powerhouse program.

Saban was hired by Alabama ahead of the 2007 season after the Crimson Tide finished with a losing record in 2006. The former LSU head coach took on the task of bringing Alabama back to championship contention.

While Saban's tenure at Alabama has been very successful, his first year was rough. The Crimson Tide finished the 2007 season with a record of 7-6.

Still, a withstanding culture was being formed at Alabama during this season, and Steele sees some parallels to what is now being organized at Miami, even while the Hurricanes have stumbled their way to a 3-4 start to the 2022 campaign.

"A lot of similarities," Steele said to reporters on Monday when asked about the likeness between the two situations. "Hopefully we can produce the same results after those similarities."

Following Saban's first season, the Crimson Tide went 12-2 and 14-0 in the following two years. This third campaign of his tenure resulted in a BSC National Championship.

"It's not any different than life itself when you change enviroments," Steele said about the establishment of a winning culture. "When there's a change people have to adapt and so that's coaches, that's players, that's everybody."

Steele commended the resiliency of Miami's players, saying that "they're not quitters" and that "they have not given up."

With five regular season games left, the Hurricanes still have an opportunity to show this resiliency and turn what has been a disappointing season up to this point around. 

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