Alabama football’s special teams coordinator and outside linebackers coach is likely crossing state lines. Coleman Hutzler is expected to become the next defensive coordinator at Mississippi State, a source confirmed to AL.com.

The news was first reported by Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports.

Hutzler came to Tuscaloosa in January of 2022. He had spent 2021 as the special teams coordinator at Ole Miss under Lane Kiffin.

Mississippi State has a new head coach, Jeff Lebby, for the 2024 season, after Zach Arnett was fired. Lebby served as the offensive coordinator at Ole Miss in 2021.

He spent one season as co-defensive coordinator at Texas in 2020. Before that, he worked at South Carolina, where he was the special teams coordinator and linebackers coach.

He was nominated for the Broyles Award, which goes to the nation’s top assistant coach, in 2017, while with the Gamecocks.

Hutzler has also worked at Florida, Boston College and New Mexico among others. He played his college football at Middlebury College in Vermont.

Throughout his time at Alabama and elsewhere, Hutzler has tutored an impressive list of players. With the the Crimson Tide, he guided the likes of Will Anderson, Dallas Turner and Chris Braswell at outside linebacker.

Mississippi State’s season ended with a 17-7 loss to Ole Miss in the Egg Bowl. The Bulldogs went 5-7 in 2023, but just 1-7 in the SEC, with the lone conference win coming in an ugly 7-3 affair against Arkansas.

Alabama still has at least one more game to go. The Crimson Tide faces Michigan in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1, in the College Football Playoff semifinals.