Alabama on Tuesday saw a host of players enter the transfer portal with the season having drawn to a close after the College Football Playoff National Championship Game.

Now, Nick Saban has seen one of his assistants depart the program for a new opportunity in the Big 12. Oklahoma announced that Tide assistant Jay Valai has been hired by 1st-year head coach Brent Venables as the Sooners’ co-defensive coordinator, focusing on the team’s passing defense.

Valai was with the Crimson Tide for 1 season, coaching the team’s cornerbacks. He was on the staff of the Kansas City Chiefs in 2018 before being hired as cornerbacks coach at Rutgers in 2019. Valai’s hiring at Oklahoma marks a return to the Big 12 as in 2020 he coached CBs at Texas, where he was reunited with former Scarlet Knights head coach and then-Longhorns defensive coordinator Chris Ash.

The Wisconsin graduate also served as a defensive quality control coach at Georgia as he was part of Kirby Smart’s staff in 2016 and 2017.