Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer made his first appearance at SEC Media Days on Wednesday, and aside from addressing the big-picture topics of his first few months on the job, he also discussed the kind of roster minutiae hardcore fans thrive on.
After his time at the lectern in the main room and a side session with electronic media members, DeBoer visited the SEC Network set. Alongside host Dari Knowkah, the panel was “All-Alabama” with analysts Roman Harper and Greg McElroy, as well as DeBoer’s predecessor, Nick Saban.
DeBoer was asked about the greatest area of concern on the team he’s inheriting, a group that went 12-2 and won the SEC championship under Saban in 2023. He noted that the Crimson Tide secondary — which lost cornerbacks Kool-Aid McKinstry and Terrion Arnold to the NFL and safety Caleb Downs to Ohio State through the transfer portal — does not have much in the way of experienced depth.
“I think it’s pretty clear that there was probably more experience that left our roster in the defensive backfield,” DeBoer said. “Now again, thanks to (Saban), there’s a lot of great youth that I think it can be developed and get on the football field, [maybe] gonna have to get on the football field sooner than later.
“It’s very promising. These guys have got the right mindset, and they’re extremely talented. I think we put out a great lineup of guys that have experience. Malachi Moore, Keon Sabb, who transferred in from Michigan, (USC transfer) Domani Jackson at corner. But there’s a lot of other guys that don’t have that experience or are younger, that are taking advantage of the days that they have right now. They need to have a great August. There’s gonna be moments we go through, but we have the right people — talent-related, personality, character — related, work ethic. I’m convinced that we’ll get there and we’ll continue to go in the right direction.”
Alabama is installing a new defensive scheme under new coordinator Kane Wommack, the head coach at South Alabama the last three seasons. Wommack’s 4-2-5 “Swarm D” relies on vision and pattern recognition, rather than press coverage in the secondary.
As Harper — a Pro Bowl safety in the NFL — noted, the new scheme leads to more opportunities for takeaways, but also puts a premium on tackling in space. DeBoer said his team is handling the transition well.
“Every coach has their ways of doing things that don’t make one thing right or wrong,” DeBoer said. “But what I’ve seen with Kane, when we worked together in 2019 (and Indiana) is that he understands all the concepts. I think it’s more about not just what you have in — we probably will have many of the same things in and the ability to do it — it’s just more about what is your personnel good at.
“… You’ve got to play to your strengths and that will continue to evolve over the course of the season. But I think Kane is a really good at seeing the big picture, understands how to use what he has within his system, what he wants it to look like, but also be able to tweak things based on who we have on the football team.”
DeBoer said he is excited about the Crimson Tide’s potential on offense, not only with quarterback Jalen Milroe and several quality offensive linemen returning, but also at the skill positions. He noted that several young offensive players had fine springs.
“You look at our running back position, and I’m really excited about Jam Miller and Justice Haynes,” DeBoer said. “Rich Young had a nice spring, especially the last four or five practices. I really thought he came around in a nice way. Those guys, they got some experience on the field. This is their time. They’ve worked hard and they’ve got the skill set. “Our receiving corps, Germie Bernard is a very special talent that we brought from Washington, but (also) guys like Kobe Prentice and Kendrick Law, who can run like the wind. He’s like 23.6 mph this summer and he’s also a 450-pound bench press guy that, throughout the spring and going into the summer, I think he’s developed another level of consistency as, as far as being an overall well-rounded receiver. And then there are some other young guys that we’re excited about.”
Alabama opens preseason practice in two weeks. The Crimson Tide begins the 2024 season at home vs. Western Kentucky on Aug. 31.