Recently, the Iron Bowl has become a revolving door of head coaches as Nick Saban's retirement, paired with Auburn's pattern of firing coaches, has seen 7 straight unique coaching matchups in a row. After Auburn hired Alex Golesh away from USF, we should finally see some stability and a true rivalry built up, barring Kalen DeBoer going back on his word and taking the Michigan job.
As both sides seemingly have their head coach for the long haul, Kalen DeBoer and Alex Golesh are going to be tied together for a long time. Each head coach will be looking to gain the upper hand, and early on, Kalen DeBoer may have delivered the first blow.
Alabama hiring Derrick Nix could deal a massive blow to Auburn
Before the SEC Championship Game, Kalen DeBoer lost his long-term wide receivers coach, JaMarcus Shephard, to Oregon State, where he'll be the Beavers' next head coach. On Tuesday Night, Kalen DeBoer found his replacement hiring former Auburn Running Backs coach and Co-Offensive Coordinator Derrick Nix.
Alabama is expected to hire Derrick Nix as its new wide receivers coach, sources tell @CBSSports.
— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) December 16, 2025
Was offensive coordinator at Auburn the last two seasons. Before that, was assistant head coach and receivers coach at Ole Miss. pic.twitter.com/mQzdIwUYTG
During his time at Ole Miss, Nix served as Lane Kiffin's wide receivers coach, and one of the ace recruiters on the staff. Nix was responsible for recruiting 5-stars Suntarine Perkins, Tony Conner, and Jerrion Ealy to Oxford.
As Alabama looks to restock the wide receiver room this offseason, the Crimson Tide fanbase will be hoping that Derrick Nix can bring some of his stars with him. Auburn wide receivers Horatio Fields, Malcolm Simmons, and Perry Thompson have already entered the Transfer Portal, and could be targets for Alabama.
The player that every Alabama fan will be hoping to see enter the Transfer Portal is superstar Cam Coleman. To this point, Cam Coleman hasn't made an announcement either way, with every fanbase speculating where he could land.
Alex Golesh is going to need to find a way to go up against Kalen DeBoer's staff for the elite recruits in the State and try to win key battles. Letting Derrick Nix leave and end up in Tuscaloosa is going to be a blunder that Golesh regrets early on.