Wednesday was Alabama’s day to shine at SEC Media Days in Atlanta.
Kalen DeBoerv stepped to the podium and answered questions for nearly 30 minutes, covering everything from Alabama’s quarterback competition to last season’s disappointments and more.
SEC Media Days: Kalen DeBoer takeaways
Here are 3 takeaways from DeBoer’s media session:
Alabama’s QB competition is wide open
The company line since the spring has been that Ty Simpson is leading Alabama’s quarterback competition. Simpson is the oldest of the group that’s fighting for the job alongside Austin Mack and freshman Keelon Russell.
However, even if Simpson is carrying a lead into fall camp, DeBoer left the door wide open for Mack or Russell to seize the opportunity during fall camp.
“We did make it known at the end of spring if we played a game at that point … Ty Simpson would be the guy that would take the first snaps and be our starter.
“Challenged all of them at that time that they have to continue to take the strides, they got to continue in their own ways to improve. They’ve really worked hard to do that. Excited to see that progress two weeks from today.”
Simpson has to be considered the favorite going into fall camp, but Mack — who has elite tools at 6-foot-6 — and Russell — who perhaps has the highest longterm upside of anyone in this group — certainly remain in the mix.
DeBoer acknowledged shortcomings from last season
DeBoer was asked a rather pointed question near the start of his session — did last year live up to the Alabama standard?
The Alabama coach said it did not, citing the lack of a Playoff appearance.
“If you internally ask us, no,” DeBoer said. “We fell short of making the Playoffs. It’s as simple as that, right? Giving yourself a chance to go compete for a championship.”
Alabama just missed out on a CFP berth due to embarrassing road losses to Vanderbilt and Oklahoma last year. The Vandy loss was particularly painful as it came just one game after the Tide won an instant-classic affair against Georgia.
Unfortunately for DeBoer, that fits a troubling pattern he’s had throughout all of his stops as an FBS head coach. He’s 15-3 against ranked teams but 10 of his 13 defeats have come vs. unranked opposition — including 2 in Year 1 with the Crimson Tide. He’s hoping to fix that trend moving forward.
“Yeah, I think it’s learning from those mistakes,” he said. “A lot of those losses happened in year one at different places. So you want year two to be moments of growth, where you can polish and clean things up. Areas where you installed offense, defense, special teams schemes that are just now your foundation.”
Alabama will have a more experienced roster in 2025
The Crimson Tide will have a lot more experience in 2025 despite losing some key pieces off of last year’s roster.
“We’re right at about 17 seniors, that’s double what we had a year ago,” DeBoer noted in his opening statement. DeBoer also said Alabama played more freshmen on special teams in 2024 than anyone else in the SEC.
At the quarterback position, Alabama is light on experience in terms of snap count but Simpson and Mack have both been around for awhile. Simpson is entering his 4th year at Alabama. For Mack, this is his 3rd season with DeBoer and his 2nd with offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb.
Defensively, Alabama returns 10 players who saw at least 400 snaps last season for the Crimson Tide.
Alabama opens the 2025 season against Florida State on Aug. 30.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
