ansley.jpg

Photo via 247Sports

(247Sports.com)

Alabama's newest assistant football coach is a talented recruiter and has deep ties to the state of Alabama.

Derrick Ansley, who replaces Mel Tucker as Alabama's new secondary coach, arrives with years of experience recruiting the Yellowhammer State. The Tallassee native played football at Troy and has used his connections throughout the state to recruit players to Central Florida, Tennessee and his most recent employer, Kentucky. He recently was promoted to Kentucky's co-defensive coordinator position, but still left for Alabama where he previously worked as a graduate assistant.

"I was born and raised in the state of Alabama," Ansley told AL.com in a previous interview. "Those relationships go back a long way. Some of my college teammates are high school coaches now. There are a lot of ties. My ties run deep in Alabama, and that's home for me."

It wasn't easy for Ansley to convince top Alabama recruits to eschew bigger options to head to Kentucky. Even when Alabama and Auburn weren't seriously involved, Kentucky still had to battle against schools like Mississippi State, Louisville and South Carolina. It was tough sledding for the energetic young coach, but even when recruits didn't sign with the Wildcats, they frequently cited Ansley as the one who recruited them the hardest. Former Opelika defensive end Quandeski Whitlow was very close with Ansley, but cited proximity in picking South Carolina over Kentucky.

Recruits liked Ansley, but many weren't enamored with the idea of playing at the SEC's only basketball-first school.

That forced Ansley to be proactive recruiting his home state. Ansley told AL.com it was imperative at Kentucky to identify the talent early -- 9th or 10th grade -- if it had any chance of signing the players out of Alabama. Even with an early jump, Ansley had to be creative with his approach. He knew the expectation for top players was to stay in-state and go to either Alabama or Auburn.

Ansley had to offer something different.

"We've all been kids, we've all played college football, and we all want something different," he said. "They want to feel the love and feel like someone is really being outside of the box recruiting him. I think the more crazy you are, the better."

It didn't always work in Alabama, but that approach is one reason Ansley carries a strong reputation as a recruiter. He successfully recruited star Tennessee cornerback Cameron Sutton during his time in Knoxville and recently nabbed a few well-regarded defensive backs to Kentucky.

His most recent gem was Jordan Griffin, who picked the Wildcats over Auburn and Louisville. He credited identifying Griffin in 10th grade and quickly building a strong rapport as how Kentucky fended off bigger programs for the defensive back prospect.

Now, Ansley will have the power of college football's behemoth behind him as he recruits. He'll arrive in Tuscaloosa with a winning mentality that has served him well in previous stops.

"Everybody is trying to sell the same thing, so what is going to separate you from X school?" Ansley said about his approach. "That's the avenue you have to figure out with each kid. Some kids don't like social media; some kids like talking on the phone; some kids like written letters.

"You have to figure out what makes that kid go, who the most important people in his life are and recruit all of those people."