COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) -Veteran coach Joe Kines was hired Wednesday as Texas A&M's assistant head coach and defensive coordinator.

Kines, whose career included stints as interim head coach at Alabama and Arkansas and working with linebackers for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, replaces Reggie Herring.

Herring had been hired in January but left to coach the Dallas Cowboys linebackers' less than a month later.

Texas A&M coach Mike Sherman said Kines was ``what you call a 'ball coach.' He loves his players and he loves football and demonstrates that passion in his coaching. No one I have ever hired has a greater pedigree or more experience than Coach Kines.''

Kines was Alabama's assistant head coach from 2003-2006. He also was defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. He was interim coach for Alabama's 2006 appearance in the Independence Bowl.

``His creative and aggressive approach toward defensive football has always intrigued me,'' Sherman said.

In addition to stints at Alabama and Arkansas, Kines has worked at Florida State, Georgia, Florida, Clemson and Jacksonville State.

Sherman said he and Kines shared a similar philosophy about defense. Kines' defenses would make opponents' offenses have to adjust, Sherman said.

``Talking with Coach Sherman about the job really made me realize how much I still want to coach,'' Kines said. ``It's what I do, and it's what I enjoy the most.''