5 things that Alabama fans must hear from Kalen DeBoer at SEC Media Days
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Nothing that comes out of Kalen DeBoer‘s mouth at SEC Media Days on Wednesday in Tampa will produce a single point, touchdown, defensive stop or victory during the 2026 season.
And nothing he says will directly correlate to Alabama regaining SEC or national supremacy for the first time since Nick Saban left the scene in January 2024.
But that doesn’t mean an anxious and discerning Alabama fan base isn’t waiting and wondering what DeBoer will say on a number of crucial topics. Here are 5 things the Crimson Tide faithful really need to hear from DeBoer as he takes the mic in Tampa:
1. Some brutally honest clarity on the state of the starting QB battle
We start here because this is the issue that’s going to greet Kalen DeBoer roughly a few minutes after he checks into his Tampa hotel. It’s the issue that’s likely going to produce a myriad of questions that DeBoer’s got to be ready for, because the questions about Keelon Russell and Austin Mack are going to be fired fast and furious.
When — not if — that happens, DeBoer can’t put the shield up. He’s got to be open, honest and willing to tell the gathered reporters, and by extension the Alabama fan base, exactly what the state of affairs is on the starting quarterback battle going into fall camp. The Russell-Mack QB tug of war has officially stretched into Media Days, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, as long as DeBoer has all the right answers prepared for the firestorm.
Alabama football fans are a deeply loyal bunch, and they’re also really knowledgeable. They can read between the lines on most anything, and this is a big one. This is all about who the starting quarterback is going to be on a team that’s supposed to contend for SEC and national hardware.
DeBoer doesn’t need to be an open book, because to expect that would be naive. But some real clarity shouldn’t be too much to ask either.
2. Some reason for hope that the running game will be fixed in 2026
As insanely important as the quarterback saga working itself out in the best way possible, the revival of the running game this fall might be its equal. It might even be more crucial, because even if Alabama gets Grade A play at the quarterback position, we already found out last season how things would go down with a pass-dominant offense trying to plow through the SEC and College Football Playoff.
The cruel answer is, it’ll only take Bama so far. This program desperately needs its running game to become relevant again, to become a weapon again like it’s seemingly always been. Because let’s be real. Last season was quasi-embarrassing, with the Tide’s leading rusher (Jam Miller) barely creeping over 500 yards and Alabama averaging a meager 3.4 yards per carry.
It was unacceptable, and Kalen DeBoer has spent almost an entire offseason poring over exactly how to fix it and who to fix it with. Those who write about Alabama and those who cheer wildly for Alabama have also spent many months writing about the running game and worrying about the running game. Many of those reporters will be sitting in Tampa this week and no doubt grilling DeBoer about the state of that running attack going into fall camp.
DeBoer has a stable of returning backs and a few freshmen who could potentially revive that dormant running game in 2026. He’ll surely be asked all about it, and while DeBoer shouldn’t sugarcoat things he also really needs to convey some hope.
3. Some relative idea about when Noah Rogers will be suiting up
The A-Day Game was supposed to be Rogers’ official introduction to the Alabama fandom. Instead, it all went wrong when the high-profile NC State transfer fell the wrong way in the end zone while trying to chase down a touchdown. He was carted off the field on that April afternoon and suddenly he was off the offseason radar, with Kalen DeBoer immediately telling reporters that Rogers’ absence would bleed into the regular season.
Rogers was supposed to bolster Bama’s depth at wide receiver. He was going to be a prime 6-foot-2 target for Keelon Russell and/or Austin Mack to count on along with starters Ryan Coleman-Williams and Lotzeir Brooks. Now, Rogers is nothing but a mystery going into Media Days, and that’s where DeBoer has to step up and provide some kind of answer about when Rogers could make his Crimson Tide debut.
DeBoer is fully aware how crucial Rogers could be for a wideout room that’s largely unproven after Coleman-Williams and Brooks. He also can be excused for not being a fortune teller regarding a serious injury like Rogers suffered 3 months ago. But DeBoer has got to have some relative idea by now about Rogers’ recovery from that gruesome left leg injury and some relative idea about a potential return date.
Even if DeBoer simply says that Bama hopes to have Rogers in the fold by a certain date or week, it’ll be something far more substantial, far more hopeful than just the vague rebuttal that he’ll return at some point this season or will miss the early part of the season. It’s almost August, and Tide fans should expect to hear more.
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4. Some talk about the trenches and restoring that old Alabama identity
When media and fans alike were questioning Alabama’s general toughness as a program after the Playoff loss to Indiana, you knew there was something serious there. The 38-3 quarterfinal bludgeoning that Bama absorbed against the eventual national champion showed how far the Tide were from being national championship worthy.
It was horrible, it was humbling, and it was a referendum on Alabama’s identity as a program going forward.
The Tide have had all offseason to stew over that loss, and Kalen DeBoer has had to face the questions as the leader of the program. The team’s performance, good or bad, is a reflection on him, and this week in Tampa he would be very wise to explain why Alabama’s performance in the trenches will look way different in 2026.
5. Some acknowledgement that 2025 was good but not good enough
Since Alabama last won it all way back in 2020, Tide fans have seen hated rival Georgia win back-to-back national championships, the first one at Bama’s expense, suffered through that CFP semifinal heartbreaker against Michigan in 2023 and sat through a Playoff-less season in 2024 before last season’s quarterfinal shellacking against Indiana.
It’s been a trying 5-year blur for a spoiled fan base desperate to be king again, and Kalen DeBoer signed up for it all when he chose to follow Nick Saban.
That brings us back to the podium at SEC Media Days, where DeBoer, in no uncertain terms, needs to tell Alabama fans that just making the Playoff is great but not nearly good enough. Savvy Tide fans know that Saban won his first national title in Tuscaloosa in Year 3, and they also realize that DeBoer is entering his Year 3. They will want DeBoer to speak to them through those reporters’ questions about what the expectations are in 2026.
Honeymoon periods simply don’t exist when you’re the head football coach at Alabama. Bear Bryant established the standard, Saban reinforced it, and DeBoer really should use Media Days to reassure Tide fans that 2025 wasn’t bad but also wasn’t the standard.
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Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
