Jumbo Package: Kalen DeBoer addresses national media ridiculousness
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Gameday attire isn’t a divisive subject in every region, but in the SEC, like everything else, it just means more. Alabama football, especially, is no exception, thus why Crimson Tide supporters are split after a joint announcement from three University of Alabama student organizations.
The culprit of chaos? What the Alabama Panhellenic described as a “Fan Color Schedule” in a post to Instagram.
As part of a collaboration with UA Panhellenic, UA’s Student Government Association and UA Student Life, the groups came up with an itinerary of what colors to wear for 2026 Alabama football home games.
Well the fun bit of Gump Twitter yesterday was all of us collectively shooting this idea into the sun. For some reason, the SGA decided to try to get people to wear themed colors for specific game days like we’re some kind of #fambly school that needs to generate fake enthusiasm. Anyway, it got ridiculed from the start, and the SGA has since deleted the tweet. This will hopefully disappear into the ether.
“My goal is just to be healthier every day,” Deboer said in a 1-on-1 interview with ABC 33/40 Sports Director Jeff Speegle, “Especially when it comes to the long season. You know you got to be ready for it. You ask your players to be mentally and physically ready. I think as a coach and a staff member it’s only gonna help you when you’re in the grind and go through a long year. It’s just something I’ve been constantly trying to make an effort on here in the last couple of years.”
Good stuff from coach, and good to see him actively working to keep his shape up. You always have to think that players will ultimately tend to respond better to the direction of a coach who takes care of his own body.
ABC also got a part 2 to the interview here, and will release the next two parts later today.
In this one, DeBoer talks a little about the negativity he got from the media (Finebaum…) after the SEC Media Days press last week. Ultimately, I think the whole conversation is absurd.
This has already been talked about to death, so I won’t give it much more commentary. But I will say this:
Want to know the moment that I knew that that the Nick Saban era was over? It wasn’t when he retired. It wasn’t even that dreadful USF game.
It was a year before, when Alabama OT J.C. Latham said in an offseason interview that they had to “get back to the Alabama standard of winning championships.”
That was the first time in nearly 20 years that I had heard a player, specifically a team leader, talk about winning a championship as a defined measuring stick for success. And he wasn’t the only one, that same sentiment was one I started hearing pretty often from the players themselves after the 2022 season. That was when I knew that the players were not internalizing/hearing the same messaging that Saban had built the program on for 17 years. Whether that was the players and times changing, or Saban just not putting in the emphasis he used to, we’ll never know.
But to now see the media going absolutely bonkers about DeBoer talking about “focusing on getting better” rather than focusing on championships is just so ridiculous and revisionist.
Anyway, that’s all I’m going to say about this.
Back to back losses would be brutal, but the Tide going on two 5-game winning streaks to get 10 wins would be, overall, a nice season that would have them hitting the playoffs with some upward momentum.
In the recruiting world, Alabama got a prediction that they may pick up the nations top interior OL out of Huntsville in 2028.
Instead, Kalen DeBoer and his staff have allocated their time — and money — toward retaining their roster this offseason with a talented young crop of players coming in over the next two classes. The 2028 class though, could be a different story. Alabama already has seven commitments and the No. 2 class in the country, which includes the nation’s No. 4 quarterback Kingston Preyear. The talented passer out of in-state powerhouse Benjamin Russell was a huge recruiting win earlier this summer for the Tide’s staff.
Now they’re looking to add another elite player from inside the state’s borders. Huntsville High’s Joey Fleming is not only the top prospect in the Yellowhammer State, he is also the No. 1 interior offensive lineman in the country.
And on Monday, Rivals VP of Recruiting Steve Wiltfong logged an expert prediction for Alabama to ultimately land his commitment.
That would be AWESOME. You can never have enough good guards, in my opinion.
Woodson figures to be the “Mike” in Wommack’s scheme. Competition for the “Sting” spot figured to be ongoing during fall camp as juniors QB Reese and Cayden Jones, along with sophomore Luke Metz, competed for the role.
But if you listen to comments made by Zabien Brown at SEC Media Days, then there’s already a clear favorite to start alongside Woodson.
When asked by 100.9 The Game’s Ryan Fowler to name a defender who could be a sleeper on the Crimson Tide’s defense in 2026, Reese was the first guy named by Brown:
“I really like QB Reese,” Brown told Fowler. “He’s a dog, man. He’s hungry. You see every day the way he walks; he can’t wait to get in the building.”
QB Reese has gotten a lot of verbal praise this offseason, so it seems like he may be the most likely to be the starter at middle linebacker.
That said, I’m still on the Luke Metz hype train myself. And don’t forget that Kane Wommack has pretty consistently rotated in 3 linebackers for the two starting spots in both of the last two seasons. So don’t be surprised if we wind up seeing that again this year.
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