Alabama moving on from Robert Bala at ILB coach

Alabama will be making a new hire at its inside linebackers coaching position, as Robert Bala announced Thursday aht he will not be retained by the team. Bala was hired last offseason, joining the team from Liberty.

“Thankful for the opportunity,” Bala posted on X. “It’s been real, will always rock with #RollTide.”

During his one season with the Crimson Tide, Bala helped coach a unit that saw starters Deontae Lawson, Jihaad Campell and Trezmen Marshall combine for 189 tackles, including 14 stops for a loss and six sacks. Marshall is departing for the NFL draft, while Lawson and Campbell have both announced their return to the team.

Bala was promoted to Liberty’s linebackers coach in December of 2022 after serving as a defensive analyst for the Flames that year.

In 2022, Liberty led the country with 121 tackles for a loss and ranked third nationally with 45 sacks last season. The Flames were also tied for No. 14 in the nation with 24 created turnovers.

Before joining Liberty, Bala spent four seasons at FCS program Southern Utah, including the final two as a defensive coordinator. During that span he also oversaw three different position groups including cornerbacks (2018-19), safeties (2020) and linebackers (2021).

Bala, a native of Oceanside, California native is a Southern Utah alum, graduating in 2008. He got his start in coaching as a linebackers coach at Snow College from 2009-10 before coaching linebackers a Palomar College from 2011-14. After serving as a linebackers/special teams intern for the Oakland Raiders in 2014, he returned to Palomar College where he coached cornerbacks the next two seasons. In 2017, he served as the special teams coordinator for Ottawa University in Arizona.