Alabama appears to have found a replacement for Jay Graham as its new special teams coordinator and tight ends coach. BamaInsider has confirmed reports that the Crimson Tide is set to hire Drew Svoboda for the position. Svoboda took the special teams job at Memphis in January after spending the past three years at Rice.

A former Texas high school football coach in the Houston area, Svoboda guided Klein Collins High School to five district championships and eight playoff appearances while posting a 93-24 record in 10 seasons as head coach. He made the jump to the college level in 2018 where he served as the running backs coach at Rice for one season before working as the special teams coordinator the past two years.

During his first year as a special teams coordinator in 2019, Svoboda was tasked with replacing the reigning C-USA Special Teams Player of the Year in punter Jack Fox. Svoboda helped coach former walk-on Chris Barnes earn second-team all-conference honors as the punter/kicker averaged 44.83 yards per punt while connecting on 8 of 10 field goals and 15 of 18 extra points.

Through five games last season, Rice ranked No. 4 in the nation in opponent kickoff returns, allowing 15.65 yards per attempt. The Owls ranked No. 41 in opponent punt return, allowing 5.29 yards per attempt.

Last week, Alabama saw Graham resign less than two months after taking the job. The former assistant explained over social media that his decision to step down was due to mental health reasons. Todd Watson is currently serving as Alabama's special teams coordinator and tight ends coach.