Former Alabama tailback Glen Coffee is back in Tuscaloosa to finish his degree and serve as a student assistant, BamaOnLine has learned. The Tuscaloosa News was first to report.

Coffee has been around the Crimson Tide’s running backs the past two days during the media viewing periods, helping 11-year position coach Burton Burns during individual drills.

After an attempt at an NFL comeback earlier this year, Coffee is now back at his alma mater. He left the San Francisco 49ers during the 2010 training camp after one only season to join the U.S. Army three years later in 2013 to become a paratrooper.

The 49ers reinstated Coffee from the reserve/retired list and waived him in April. He is still a free agent, and the Fort Walton Beach, Fla., native turned 30 years old back on May 1.

During his playing career at Alabama, Coffee led the Tide in rushing in 2008. That season he ran for 1,383 yards, which is currently fifth on Alabama’s single-season rushing list.

Now around one of the deepest position groups on Alabama’s roster, Coffee will see the future of the running back position up close during the preseason. And having a resource like the former All-SEC first-teamer and NFL back is beneficial for the star-studded group of backs currently on campus.

“By being a running back here you kind of get relationships with the past running backs because they come around often,” Bo Scarbrough said. “… There’s a lot I learned from them.”

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