Auburn coach Hugh Freeze said Monday that Alabama coach Nick Saban reached out to him before Alabama hired one of Freeze’s former staffers last week.

Robert Bala, who spent the 2022 season as a defensive analyst at Liberty, accepted a job last week as Alabama’s inside linebackers coach, ESPN reported.

“Obviously Nick and I are friends, and I know it’s hard for a lot of people to believe,” Freeze told ‘Mac and Cube’ on WJOX. “When Nick called me, I just said, ‘I think he’s really, really good and you ought to interview him.’ Evidently he did. I haven’t talked to Nick since he interviewed him. But evidently he did well.”

Added Freeze: “I’m jealous that Nick got him.”

Bala replaces Austin Armstrong, who left to become Florida’s defensive coordinator nine days after Alabama announced his hire. Armstrong, the former Southern Miss defensive coordinator, was replacing Pete Golding in coaching the Tide’s inside linebackers.

Bala joined Liberty from FCS’ Southern Utah, where he spent the 2020 and 2021 seasons as defensive coordinator.

“I typically don’t go outside of my tree too much but I had him highly recommend to me at Liberty,” Freeze said of hiring Bala in 2022. “He was at Southern Utah. He was wanting to break into the FBS level, and I interviewed him, and was absolutely blown away by his knowledge, his demeanor for teaching. He’s a rising star. The guy was incredibly valuable, a great evaluator and he’s a great human being. He and his wife are just super people.”

Mike Rodak is an Alabama beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @mikerodak.