Former Texas football CB coach Jay Valai hired by Alabama

The movement of the coaching staff that served under now former fourth-year Texas football head coach Tom Herman is starting to round out. The latest to reportedly find a new landing spot on another coaching staff around the college football landscape is the now former Texas cornerbacks coach Jay Valai.

On the night of Feb. 12, Valai took to his Twitter timeline to confirm the reported hiring of him with the on-field coaching staff with the defending National Champion Alabama Crimson Tide. Valai will serve in the same role with the Crimson Tide that he did with the Longhorns and Rutgers Scarlet Knights in the prior two years, as a cornerbacks coach.

Alabama is essentially getting some portion of a coaching swap done here among their on-field coaching staff. Legendary head coach Nick Saban saw a good portion of his coaching staff walk off to the Forty Acres to join newly hired Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian so far this offseason.

Valai served as the Texas cornerbacks coach for just one year. He was brought on board on Herman’s coaching staff last offseason along with now former Texas defensive coordinator and ex-Rutgers head coach Chris Ash for one year.

How things are changing for Valai and Texas football

Sark officially transitioned the cornerbacks coach role to defensive backs coach. He hired the former Notre Dame Fighting Irish defensive backs coach Terry Joseph to serve in the same role with the Longhorns.

In fact, the only assistants from Herman’s staff from last year that remain on Sark’s coaching staff are running backs coach Stan Drayton and wide receivers coach Andre Coleman. Sark has now brought aboard the likes of linebackers coach Jeff Choate, defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski, and Joseph, among others, to highlight his on-field coaching staff on this side of the ball.

Saban saw the likes of his former offensive line coach Kyle Flood and special teams coordinator Jeff Banks bolt from Tuscaloosa this offseason to stay with Sark. Flood will be Texas’ offensive coordinator/offensive line coach and Banks will serve in a similar role on the Forty Acres that he did in Tuscaloosa.

Texas finished up with a record of 7-3 (5-3 Big 12) last season under the former head coach Herman. Their last game resulted in a dominant 55-23 win over the Colorado Buffaloes in the Alamo Bowl back on Dec. 29.