Former Alabama All-American returns to Crimson Tide team as staff member

Former Alabama DB Ha Ha Clinton-Dix formally retired from the NFL on Thursday as a Green Bay Packer. Friday, Clinton-Dix revealed that he has already settled into a new gig with his alma mater.

Clinton-Dix was speaking to Packers reporters Friday when he discussed his return to Alabama in a player development role on Nick Saban’s staff.

“I had an opportunity back in October to go down to Tuscaloosa and spend time with the 2012 championship reunion,” Clinton-Dix shared. “We had a big weekend for that, and I got to spend time with some of my academic advisors. And they were asking me what direction I was going in, and I told them I was looking to flip the page from football and focus on being a servant and, of course, doing what I love and that’s helping others.

“She sat down with me and she damn near opened the floor for me and told me I had an opportunity to come back and work with Nick Saban in a director of player development role here in Tuscaloosa. So right now, we’re in New Orleans. We came down the 26th. We have a game on Saturday against Kansas State. We’ve been down here enjoying New Orleans and getting ready for a game on Saturday.

“That’s where my life is headed is into coaching and helping these kids create great decision-making and making the right choices as they get ready to further their career and head to the NFL and other avenues that they wanna endure after football is over with.”

Clinton-Dix was a consensus All-American and first-team All-SEC selection in 2013, his third and final season at Alabama. The Packers selected Clinton-Dix No. 21 overall in the 2014 NFL Draft.

Clinton-Dix played in 96 games, making 90 starts, from 2014-to-2019. After 4-plus seasons with the Packers, his final 25 appearances came with Washington and Chicago in the 2018 and ’19 seasons. Clinton-Dix’s pro career highlights include All-Rookie Team (2014), Pro Bowl (2016) and second-team All-Pro (2016).

Since the end of the 2019 season, Clinton-Dix has spent time with the Dallas Cowboys, San Francisco 49ers, Las Vegas Raiders and Denver Broncos as an offseason/practice squad member. Clinton-Dix signed a 1-day contract to retire as a Packer.

Andrew Olson

Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.