Alabama looks to have found a replacement for the unexpected opening on its coaching staff. According to multiple sources, the Crimson Tide is set to hire Liberty linebackers coach Robert Bala as its inside linebackers coach. Bala would replace Austin Armstrong, who left to become Florida’s defensive coordinator just nine days after Alabama officially announced him as a new member of its staff.

Bala was promoted to Liberty’s linebackers coach in December after serving as a defensive analyst for the Flames in 2022. His time at Liberty was spent working under Hugh Freeze, who took the head coaching job at Auburn this offseason.

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.