The annual Alabama spring game is in the books, with the offense taking home the win in the new scoring format. Early on the offense did basically whatever it wanted, but coach Kalen DeBoer said at the half that the defense had been “vanilla” and alluded to some adjustments. Sure enough, the defense stepped up and got several stops once Kane Wommack started scheming to slow down the offense rather than just giving them a base look.
In general, it was a pretty encouraging day considering the amount of time that the new coaching staff has been together. The spring transfer portal opens tomorrow and it is expected to be somewhat seismic across college football, so we’lll see what shakes out there. Even if no one leaves, which isn’t going to be the case, DeBoer will be shopping for some depth at OL, ILB, and CB.
Everything that occurred during the intrasquad scrimmage was a “good news, bad news” situation, as is typical. A few initial thoughts:
The offensive line’s interior played a dominant role, and the running backs live up to the hype.
Although Tyler Booker and Jaeden Roberts were already known to be exceptional road graders, James Brockermeyer appears prepared to be the guy in the center. To be fair to the defense, injuries kept Jihaad Campbell and Jaheim Oatis from participating in the scrimmage, but some of the gaps the line was blowing open were concerning.
The running backs had fantastic looks. Despite his excellent play, Justice Haynes was only the third most productive back during the scrimmage. Jam Miller is ready to take the lead.
There were lots of well-executed shifts and movements.
We are looking at a completely different offensive plan for the first time since Nick Saban brought in Lane Kiffin to revamp his playbook. DeBoer is regarded as one of the greatest offensive brains in the industry. This was clear from the opening play of the contest, when Miller and Haynes lined up in a two-back set. In addition, we observed numerous tight end sets and a lot of movement to acquire information and power.
This was quite well executed for a fresh design. Additionally, jet and orbit motion were employed. Seeing what the staff comes up with for the fall will be entertaining.
Germie Bernard is poised to take center stage.
Be the first to comment