What’s old is new again for Alabama football. When Nick Saban needed a defensive coordinator following Pete Golding’s defection to Ole Miss, he called upon Kevin Steele, who held the same position at Miami last season.

The transition Steele, who was Saban’s first defensive coordinator at Alabama and also worked with the program in 2013 and 2014, has been an easy sell to the Crimson Tide’s players.

According to defensive lineman Justin Eboigbe, the move from Golding to Steele hasn’t been difficult.

“I’ll be honest with you, it really hasn’t been that big of a difference, because the defense is gonna stay the same” Eboigbe said Friday before Alabama’s second practice of preseason camp. “Coach Saban isn’t leaving and he’s always in that meeting, he’s always the spearhead of things, so it’s really no big difference.”

Saban doesn’t wholesale change his system when new coordinators come to Tuscaloosa. The new faces have to add their own tweaks, but overall, it’s a fairly stable setup for the Crimson Tide.

Linebacker Deontae Lawson said Steele’s biggest emphasis so far has been increasing turnovers to try and create more points.

“Really the same things, but the little things, it’s all about the little things, so that’s what we’re trying to work on,” Lawson said.

Last season’s Alabama team averaged 7.9 penalties per game, the Tide’s most in eight seasons. Penalties were especially a factor in the loss to Tennessee, when UA had 17.

Lawson said that area was Steele’s largest focus so far.

“Make sure everybody is doing their job and no mental errors that lead to points,” Lawson said.

Steele has largely kept things simple with his new group. Saban has emphasized a play-by-play mindset with his players this season, and from what Eboigbe and Lawson said Friday, the new coordinator is following the same path.

“I think the biggest thing (Steele has) been instilling is just knowing the fundamentals, knowing your job,” Eboigbe said. “Just preaching about doing it to the best of your ability. He’s saying that we have a goal as a defense and the defense is going to be relied upon. So not only instill the focal point of the team, but to create turnovers, play fast, physical. And to really get back to what Bama is about.”

Alabama’s preseason camp is scheduled to run through Aug. 26. The Crimson Tide open the 2023 season at Bryant-Denny Stadium against Middle Tennessee State on Sept. 2.