He’s taken many steps to get here but Jay Valai is expected to be named the new Alabama cornerbacks coach in Tuscaloosa.

On Thursday, Valai was announced as a member of the Philadelphia Eagles coaching staff as the franchise’s new assistant defensive backs coach but the opportunity to work with Nick Saban was apparently too much to pass up.

That’s according to ESPN college football insider Adam Rittenberg, who is reporting that Valai will be the new Alabama cornerbacks coach. Valia takes the place of Karl Scott, who was hired by the Minnesota Vikings this offseason.

Valai spent the 2020 season as the cornerbacks coach at Texas, he also has coaching experience at Rutgers (cornerbacks coach in 2019), one season of NFL experience (quality control assistant for the Kansas City Chiefs in 2018) and two seasons working for Kirby Smart at Georgia (quality control coach in 2016 and 2017).

Valai was a defensive back at Wisconsin and was a team captain with the program back in 2010. The Badgers won a share of the Big Ten title his senior season.

Following this hire, Alabama has a full 10-man assistant coaching staff for the 2021 season.