It was an issue that flew under the radar for most of 2014. Thanks to the brilliance of Landon Collins and the steady presence of Nick Perry, Alabama was able to mask it, but when the games got bigger and the weather grew colder, it was put on the forefront for the nation to see.

Alabama’s secondary had its share of struggles.

Part of the reason for those struggles: the Crimson Tide didn’t have a coach for the defensive backfield. Actually, it had been two years since Nick Saban had a secondary coach on staff. Instead, defensive coordinator Kirby Smart managed the position group, with Saban himself coming over for some hands-on work.

In a sport that’s become more and more of a passing game, it just doesn’t make sense to use a team’s CEO and vice president in those capacities.

So in comes Mel Tucker, perhaps the most overqualified position coach in the SEC. Tucker, a former graduate assistant under Saban at Michigan State, had been an NFL defensive coordinator for three teams from 2008 until 2014, also serving as an interim head coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2011. At Alabama, his only job will be to manage the secondary, although he does have an associate head coach title as well.

It will be Tucker’s job to shore up a group that allowed the most passing plays of 10-plus yards and ranked 11th in plays of 20- and 30-or-yards in the SEC. Having run some strong defenses in his time in the NFL, Tucker will bring a breadth of knowledge to impart on the Crimson Tide secondary.

He’ll have plenty to work with, despite the losses of Collins and Perry. Geno Smith will be ready to take over a starting role at safety as a senior. The Tide also has two touted signees, Deionte Thompson and Ronnie Harrison, already on campus as early enrollees.

Though they were inconsistent in 2014, both starting cornerbacks return for 2015. Cyrus Jones and Eddie Jackson are both clearly talented, and perhaps with more individual attention they’ll be able to work out the kinks from last season. They’ll have some strong backups behind them: Tony Brown, who played solidly as a freshman, and former five-star Marlon Humphrey, who redshirted in 2014.

Those two athletic corners — both Brown and Humphrey excel on the track as well — should give Tucker the tools to compete with the SEC’s rapidly evolving passing offenses.

One of the biggest keys for Tucker in his first year in Tuscaloosa will be helping the secondary improve in terms of takeaways. Tucker managed defenses that led the NFL in takeaways in his time in the league, so he clearly knows the keys to creating turnovers. He also worked with Charles Tillman in Chicago, the master of the forced fumble, and he’ll hopefully have picked up some of that technique in his time there.

Alabama has struggled in that department the last two years, with just 22 total interceptions across 2013-14 and just 39 total takeaways. That ranked them tied for ninth in the SEC in both categories.

With Tucker on board, expect those results to swing toward the top of the conference. Now that Alabama has a coach whose only task is running a talented secondary, the defensive backfield should be on par with the stacked front seven.