The 5 biggest things to be watching for during Alabama’s spring practices

When Alabama trudged off the treasured Rose Bowl sod on New Year’s Day, its 2025 season fate sealed with a 38-3 destruction at the hands of eventual national champion Indiana, there were a whole set of issues leaving the field with the Crimson Tide.

Those issues were centered around the journey Bama had just taken, all the way to the College Football Playoff quarterfinals, and the remaining road it left untraveled as all those shortcomings finally did the Tide in. Alabama was a solid Playoff team in 2025, although some would even argue that, but Kalen DeBoer‘s Year 2 edition certainly wasn’t a national championship team. 

It was a strong step forward last fall after falling way short of the Playoff in 2024, and arguably the most demanding college football fan base in America was going to have to be satisfied with that. Indiana was way better than Bama on the first day of 2026 and better than everybody else last season, and the badly beaten Crimson Tide were left with a “to be continued” tag as they left the Rose Bowl.

That continuation of what DeBoer is trying to build in Tuscaloosa officially started again on March 8, when the 2026 edition of the Alabama Crimson Tide walked on the field for its first spring practice. There was anticipation, there was excitement, there was that annual freshness that always accompanies the start of spring football. But, of course, there were those issues that didn’t just suddenly go away in a little over 2 months’ time. 

Now, the hard work really kicks in. Attacking those issues left over from last season and tackling the new ones will be the goal during these sweat-filled weeks in March and April, culminating in the A-Day Spring Game on April 11. There will be a ton of things to watch for as a very crucial spring in DeBoer’s tenure in T-Town unfolds, but we’ll narrow it down to the 5 biggest things to look out for as Alabama spring football motors into full swing: 

1. Does name/number change signal fresh start for Ryan Coleman-Williams?

What’s in a name? Well, a lot can be, especially if you’re Ryan Williams. Or, check that, Ryan Coleman-Williams, because that’s what Alabama’s freshly renamed junior-to-be wide receiver will be known as going forward after recently adding his mother’s last name to his own last name. With one of those nifty hyphens tucked between “Coleman” and “Williams” you now have one of the most talented wideouts in college football with a jersey that’s a lot more crowded on the back.

And that won’t be the only thing different on the back of his jersey come this fall. Instead of that familiar No. 2 that he’s worn during his first 2 years in Tuscaloosa, during his memorable freshman season and his not-so-memorable sophomore campaign, Coleman-Williams is bumping things up a bit by donning the No. 1 uniform in 2026. The No. 1 means a lot to him, as it was the jersey number he wore proudly during his high school career down the road in Saraland, Alabama. 

The name alteration was the easy part. The number thing was a bit more complex, because fellow Crimson Tide wideout Isaiah Horton wore No. 1 last season. But Horton transferred to SEC rival Texas A&M, which freed up that special No. 1 for Coleman-Williams to transition to as a junior. He didn’t even have to ask Horton, and now with a new name and a new number, the huge question is this — will everyone see a new young man out on the football field, starting this spring?

There’s no sugar-coating that 2025 was a feeble follow-up to what Coleman-Williams did as a freshman phenom in 2024. Sure, he caught 1 more pass (49) last season than he did as a super freshman (48), but let’s forget about that because it was irrelevant. His yards receiving dipped hard from 865 in 2024 to 689 in 2025, his touchdowns were sliced in half from 8 as a freshman to 4 last season and his yards per catch also fell from 18.0 to 14.1, so he wasn’t stretching the field nearly as well either as a sophomore.

And we haven’t even touched on those drops that haunted “Ryan Williams” in 2025. He wasn’t even targeted, not once, during the Iron Bowl victory, which would’ve been impossible to believe at the start of last season. But it happened, all of it, and now this young man who just turned 19 a little over a month ago has a lot of questions to answer. He recently shared to reporters after Alabama’s 3rd spring practice about how his mother is his best friend and that the name change was a legacy thing that he wanted his mom to be a part of, while the number change is part of a “hard reset” that he seeks in 2026.

The attempt at that reset starts now, during the spring, leading up to the A-Day Game and into the summer. Then, of course, the fall, where everything really counts. More eyeballs than ever will be on him this spring to see if that reset gets rolling the right way.

2. Can Austin Mack or Keelon Russell take way early lead in QB race?

You have a redshirt junior in Mack and a redshirt freshman in Russell who launch their battle this spring in trying to replace Ty Simpson, who’s headed for the NFL Draft after 1 season as the Tide starter. Among the many position battles that will be staged this spring and beyond for Bama in 2026, this will no doubt be the one with the most eyeballs on it, because it’s the quarterback position, because it involves 2 young men with a ton of promise who aren’t new to the program and, well, because it’s Alabama.

Mack and Russell might just be battling for the job all the way to the dying days before the Week 1 matchup against East Carolina. That’s how close this could be, and the fun begins this spring with 2 signal callers who have to be tired of watching. Mack surely didn’t follow Kalen DeBoer from Washington across the country to Alabama so he could be a backup the whole time. After sitting behind Jalen Milroe in 2024 and then Simpson last season while throwing a combined 35 passes, Mack has got to feel like now is finally his time, right? 

Meanwhile, Russell threw all of 15 passes last season, and even though it feels like it’s Mack’s turn in 2026, Russell has other plans for this fall. Sure, it was Mack who took over for Simpson in the second half of the Rose Bowl Playoff loss to Indiana after Simpson injured his ribs. But that was one flash moment in time while the 2025 Alabama football season was in its fading stages. Mack got the nod over Russell in that moment, but he’s going to have to win the job this spring (and likely well beyond) all over again.

Tide offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb spoke with reporters about Mack and Russell after one of those spring practices earlier this month, going over what each brings to the table and what their differences are. “Very similar guys,” said Grubb about the 2 quarterbacks. Naturally, they aren’t totally similar, but they have one flashing-red similarity — they both want to finally be The Guy this fall, and that fight starts now, during these exhausting spring practices that lead up to the A-Day Game next month. 

It’s a fight that is almost assuredly just beginning.

3. Does Daniel Hill’s weight loss equal net gain for Bama backfield?

Hill is determined to be part of the solution to Alabama’s running game nightmare from last season. Who knows what the 2025 Crimson Tide could’ve been had they had any semblance of a rushing attack, because they were pretty darn good and got pretty darn far without one. Jam Miller was supposed to be the prime solution last fall, but he was seemingly always banged up, from literally fall camp onward, and he only mustered 504 yards rushing, 3.9 yards per carry and 3 touchdowns.

The fact that those 504 yards led the Tide in rushing last season tells the sad story, and that brings us back to Hill, who is bouncing around the Bama practice fields this spring at a much lighter weight. The Mississippi native arrived at spring camp a few weeks ago 8 pounds lighter, which is a huge difference for anyone, let alone a collegiate running back who’s trying to make a difference. Instead of the 244 pounds he was listed at during last season, the 6-foot-1 Hill is now much leaner at 236 and hoping that helps pave the way for a breakout 2026 season.

Hill did OK in a backup role behind Miller last fall, rushing for 284 yards and 6 touchdowns, but like Miller his yards per carry left a lot to be desired, with Hill finishing at a 3.8 clip. He also showed flashes of being a terror out of the backfield, catching 28 passes for 203 yards and 1 TD. Putting up 487 all-purpose yards isn’t half bad as a sophomore in a backup role on a team that struggled mightily to unlock its running backs, and that was done at Hill’s old weight.

Alabama has other options for someone to assert themselves and be The Man in the backfield in 2026. There are fellow returners Kevin Riley and AK Dear. And there is 5-star true freshman Ezavier Crowell, who could very well make an immediate impact. But Hill was already well-positioned to be the starter this fall, and we’ll find out this spring if that big weight drop helps his cause in putting a lock down on that starting spot going into the summer.

4. How does that revamped O-line look under new coach Adrian Klemm?

Klemm walked into what is pretty much a complete offensive line rebuild when he took over as O-line coach for Chris Kapilovic. If only it was just having to replace 2 stalwarts in left tackle Kadyn Proctor and center Parker Brailsford. Unfortunately, it’s a whole lot more than that this offseason for Alabama, and the overhaul starts during these vital spring practices when the foundation is set for that new cohesion up front. 

Proctor was a 3-year rock on that left side for Bama and a consensus All-American selection last season. Offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb already told reporters during the first week of spring practices that redshirt freshman Jackson Lloyd will be the guy who replaces Proctor at that all-important left tackle spot. That, of course, will shine a spotlight in itself on Lloyd for the rest of the spring and throughout the offseason. Is he really the guy to replace Proctor? Was he named the starter too soon?

With that position apparently locked down, Klemm and Grubb still have to deal with the departure of 6 of the 7 offensive linemen who played significant starting snaps last season, including Brailsford, who allowed just 1 sack in 2 seasons in the middle of that Tide O-line, according to Pro Football Focus.

Michael Carroll is that lone Tide starting lineman who’s back for the 2026 season, and that means this revamping of the offensive line is going to take the entire offseason, with plenty of steps forward and steps backward along the way. That’s what makes this spring so crucial for Klemm and Grubb. By the time the A-Day Game is played and digested, there needs to be some real progress made, and that’s easier said than done, even with Lloyd already being named the starter at left tackle.

“Guys are hungry,” Kalen DeBoer told reporters after Bama’s second spring practice on March 10. “… They’re trying to get used to just what their job is, much less trying to get used to playing with the guys next to them and hearing those calls when the bullets are really flying.”

This particular O-line rebuild is 2-fold. It’s trying to build a new offensive line with only a few returners and a slew of transfers, with a new coach running the show, and it’s trying to instill a revitalized toughness in the trenches to revive a dormant running game from 2025. There is so much work to be done before that hopeful finished product is displayed on Sept. 5, and the beginning of that arduous journey happens now, during a spring full of trial and error.

5. Who are the early leaders to fill those big holes at inside linebacker? 

Gone are Deontae Lawson, Justin Jefferson and Nikhai Hill-Green, which is a combined 213 tackles walking out the door from the 2025 season, and that’s a heck of a lot of production to have to replace. The dynamic trio was Alabama’s first-, second- and fourth-leading tacklers from last season, with it being Lawson, Jefferson and Hill-Green, in that order. The tall task to find the right players to replace them starts now, in the spring, so they’re ready to do damage by the fall.

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. 

Among the 5 players that DeBoer threw out, only Woodson has made significant contributions at the college level, so this is going to be an interesting process to see who emerges early during the spring in trying to fill those big cleats this fall. 

Cory Nightingale

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.