Jumbo Package: Alabama Football gets 2026 A-Day Details Confirmed
NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...
Hey look, we have A-Day confirmations!
Details have been finalized for Alabama football’s annual Golden Flake A-Day, scheduled for Saturday, April 11 at 1 p.m. CT inside Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Admission to A-Day and public parking will remain free of charge. All parking will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Alabama’s annual Walk of Fame ceremony at Denny Chimes will begin at 11 a.m. with head coach Kalen DeBoer joined by 2025 captains Parker Brailsford, Tim Keenan III, Deontae Lawson and Ty Simpson. Following the ceremony, the 2026 roster will take part in the Walk of Champions leading into Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium at 12:45 p.m. The Crimson Tide will then participate in a two-hour scrimmage with kickoff set for 1 p.m.
Gates to Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium will open at 12 p.m. Attendees should utilize Gates 14-17, 21-24, 34 and 47-53 to enter. The University’s clear bag policy, along with the use of metal detectors, will be in effect at the gates. The first 5,000 fans in attendance will also receive a limited-edition commemorative poster for the event.
Now what we actually see on the field? Who knows. Kalen DeBoer has said they want it to be a scrimmage, and this announcement specifically says scrimmage as well. But how neutered down it it is remains to be seen. It’ll never be the spectacle that it used to be again, but here’s to hoping it’s a better product for the fans than a year ago.
No announcement yet on if it will be broadcast on TV. Hopefully with the spring transfer window gone, it will come back.
There’s definitely a lot of fascinating stuff for us to keep tabs on this year, between the QB battle, the brand new offensive line, and possibly the most interesting to me: the linebackers.
Who might those possible replacements be? Kalen DeBoer can certainly tell you a few candidates. He appeared on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning a few days before the first spring practice on March 8 and talked up some names to footnote. DeBoer mentioned Birmingham product QB Reese off the top, and he talked about Cayden Jones making a jump in his 3rd season in the program. The head coach is also high on Virginia Tech transfer Caleb Woodson, who’s combined for 129 tackles the past 2 seasons. DeBoer called Woodson a “captain-type guy” after a practice earlier this spring.
Just maybe Woodson can replace Lawson, a 2-time captain, in more ways than one this fall. Reese is entering his 3rd season at Alabama like Jones, and both will finally get a chance to have sizable roles after seeing limited action so far in Tuscaloosa. Georgia products Luke Metz and Duke Johnson II, both entering their 2nd years in the program, were also part of the inside linebacker solution that DeBoer talked about earlier this month.
In an interview the other week, Kane Wommack was talking about the position group and made a comment that this is a position battle that he was expecting last year that got delayed with Jefferson and Lawson coming back. Between the lines, it felt to me like he was almost disappointed that they didn’t get to go through with the battle a year ago and he seemed genuinely excited about getting the young guys out on the field to see who rises to the top. I think this is going to be a fascinating position battle this offseason, and one that’s going to get overshadowed by the QBs.
In recruiting news, Alabama picked up a new recruit commitment for next year.
Alabama has reportedly landed a commitment from 2027 tight end Oakley Keegan, per Rivals’ Hayes Fawcett.
Keegan will add an instant boost to the Tide’s 2027 recruiting class, as Alabama continues to add elite talent on both sides of the football. Keegan drew serious interest from a multitude of programs across the country prior to his commitment. At 6-foot-7, 240 pounds, Keegan is a rising star with tons of potential upside, as the tight end is now on track play for the Tide when his collegiate career begins in 2027, assuming he eventually signs with Alabama later this year.
He’s an unranked player at this point, but who knows where the rankings will go once other teams see Alabama’s interest and Keegan gets some attention in summer camps.
Moving on, in NFL Draft Twitter (which is always a wild place this time of year), the main character yesterday was Dan Orlovsky talking about Ty Simpson.
Orlovsky has been going all-out with his support of Ty for a month, and he’s only doubling down on it. He’s now even saying that Simpson is a better QB than Fernando Mendoza.
The draft silly season will only get sillier from here, and the conversations around QBs are always the most silly. And with this class having so few competent QBs, Simpson is quickly becoming a lightning rod for online discussion.
Finally stay tuned here at RBR as we continue with our coverage of March Madness and the men’s run to the Sweet Sixteen. All of that deserves articles outside of the Jumbo Package.
Roll Tide!
More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos