Miami Hurricanes officially announce new Canes defensive coordinator
Kevin Steele had already accepted a position last week as the University of Miami defensive coordinator, and UM head coach Mario Cristobal talked about him Wednesday morning.
A few hours later Wednesday, the Hurricanes made it official with a news release after the completion of the hiring process.
Steele, 63, last served as defensive coordinator at Auburn from 2016 to 2020 and knows UM coach Mario Cristobal from when they were both assistants at Alabama. In 2017, Steele was named a finalist for the Broyles Award given to the top assistant in college football.
“A Miami Hurricanes defense should always be defined by its physicality and toughness, which are two traits of every Kevin Steele-coached defense,” Cristobal said in the release. “Coach Steele has recruited, developed and produced at an elite level at every stop of his career, and I’m confident he will implement a defense that will make Hurricanes fans and alumni proud.
“Coach Steele will help elevate the culture of not only our defense, but our team as a whole, and I know he will make his impact felt on the identity of our program.”
Steele also was the defensive coordinator/linebackers coach at LSU in 2015, defensive coordinator/linebackers coach at Clemson from 2009-2011 and was at Alabama for a second stint in 2103 (director of player personnel) and 2014 (linebackers) and before that in 2007 (defensive coordinator) and 2008 (linebackers).
Among several other major stops, he was the linebackers coach for the Carolina Panthers from 1995-1998, linebackers coach at Nebraska from 1989-94 (when the Cornhuskers went 60-11) and coached at Tennessee (linebackers, defensive backs, graduate assistant).
“My defensive philosophy fits what people desire to recapture at the University of Miami,” Steele said. “Philosophically, defense from the era I grew up in mirrors some of the things of the past teams here – it’s based on relentless effort, physical and mental toughness and tackling. We’ll never have a meeting where those three things are not talked about.
“There are things that are schematically important to any defense, whether we’re pressuring, playing press man coverage or whatever it might be. That’s all in a different library book. The first book you have to read is about relentless effort, physical and mental toughness, and tackling. If you do those three things on defense, you’re well on your way.”
This story was originally published February 9, 2022 at 12:58 PM.
