Kevin Steele Kevin Steele ( born May 17 , 1958 ) is a former American football coach and player . Most recently , he was the defensive coordinator at Clemson University from 2009 until early 2012 . From 1999 to 2002 , Steele served as the head football coach at Baylor University , compiling a record of 9 – 36 . Playing career . Steele played three seasons of collegiate football as a linebacker . He spent his freshman year at Furman University before transferring to Tennessee , where he was a member of Johnny Majors ' 1978 and 1979 squads . Coaching career . Career as an assistant . From 1989 to 1994 , Steele coached the linebackers under Nebraska legend Tom Osborne . During his six years in Lincoln , the Cornhuskers went 60 - 11 , appeared in six bowl games , won four conference championships and captured the 1994 national championship with a 13 - 0 record . He coached Butkus Award winner Trev Alberts during that time . He was also an assistant coach at the Florida State University , University of Tennessee , Oklahoma State University and New Mexico State University . On January 4 , 2007 , Steele was hired by new Alabama coach Nick Saban as defensive coordinator for the Crimson Tide . Carolina Panthers . In 1995 , Steele moved to the NFL as the linebackers coach for the Carolina Panthers . Under head coach Dom Capers , the Panthers reached the NFC Championship Game in their second season ( 1996 ) . A well publicized moment occurred during Steele ' s last year in Carolina . Linebacker Kevin Greene attacked Steele during a heated discussion , grabbing the coach by his clothing . The incident was captured on live television . Steele did not retaliate . " Football is an emotional , aggressive game , " Steele said . " Those guys are out there fighting . Kevin is a good person . We ' ve talked about it and worked it out . That ' s all I have to say about it . " Head coaching career . Steele was the head coach at Baylor University from 1999 to 2002 . His record was 9 – 36 ( 1 – 31 in the Big 12 conference ) . In Steele ' s first season ( 1999 ) , Baylor finished with a 1 – 10 record ( the school ' s worst since 1969 ) . During the 1999 season , Steele ' s Baylor team was involved in what ESPN . com called one of the top 10 worst coaching decisions , in 1999 , when he chose a running play rather than a kneel down with his team leading and possessing the ball in the game ' s final 12 seconds and the opponent ( UNLV ) out of timeouts . The ensuing Baylor fumble and UNLV return for a touchdown gave the Rebels a shocking win . Steele ' s second season began with a 2 – 1 non - conference record but was followed by eight straight Big 12 losses , only one closer than 24 points . A particularly rough stretch in October saw the Bears shut out in three consecutive games ( the last of which was a 59 – 0 loss at Nebraska , where the Huskers led 38 – 0 after the first quarter ) . Part of BU ' s offensive woes were caused by the season ending collarbone injury to heralded offseason JUCO transfer quarterback Greg Cicero , who was injured in the season ' s second game . Steele ' s third season in 2001 started with a 2 – 0 record ( including an exciting overtime win over New Mexico ) . Steele ' s fourth season ( 2002 ) had a terrible beginning . For opening day , Baylor traveled to Berkeley to play California . Since Cal had finished 1 - 10 the previous year , many felt this was a good matchup . However , Cal ( who turned out to be greatly improved in 2002 ) immediately took command of the game , jumping to a 35 – 0 lead and cruising to a 70 – 22 win . Although the team rallied from the defeat to win three of the next four games ( the last a 35 – 32 win over Kansas for Steele ' s first Big 12 conference win ) , they could not sustain the momentum , losing their next four conference games by wide margins and Steele was fired after the fourth ( a 62 – 11 loss to Texas Tech ) . After the firing , Steele elected to finish the season and continued as head coach for the season ' s last three games , all losses . Steele was succeeded by coach Guy Morriss . Family . Steele is a native of Dillon , South Carolina . He and his wife , Linda , have a son ( Gordon ) and a daughter ( Caroline ) .