Derrick Ansley wasn't big, but he was productive. Very productive.
Despite weighing 175 pounds or less throughout his college career, the 6-foot-1 Ansley was a four-year playmaker at safety for Troy in the early 2000s.
Among his career numbers: 299 tackles and 19 interceptions, including nine as a junior.
It's a compliment to be compared to Ansley if you're a safety, and one of Alabama's young safeties apparently reminds Ansley of himself.
Ansley, the Tide's new defensive backs coach, has told redshirt freshman Deionte Thompson's father that he "sees a lot of himself" in the 6-foot-2, 190-pound Thompson.