Happy Thursday, everyone. The men’s basketball team didn’t have much luck vs Florida last night, but the women get their chance to take down the Gators tonight in the SEC Tournament. The game tips at 7:30pm CT and will be televised on SEC Network.
Ryan Grubb spoke to reporters yesterday, and as usual the ink stained wretches squeezed as many headlines out of it as possible.
“Keelon is awesome man,” Grubb said. “He’s very unflappable. Even when things don’t go right, and they invariably will for a freshman quarterback, I think he’s done an awesome job of staying the course and being very steady. He can make a lot of plays.”
How does Russell compare to other young quarterbacks Grubb has coached?
“It’s been a while,” Grubb said. “One of things I noticed, I think about Jake Haener way back at Fresno State, he’s at the Saints now, Jake had a really whippy, quick release. Once he made his decision, he was very decisive with the ball. I see that with (Keelon) a lot. And then Keelon’s vision reminds me of Mike Penix a little bit. He has good wide vision with the field and he can see it even when he doesn’t know exactly what’s going on. He’s still working through all the processes, but he will get there. He’s a good player.”
How would he describe his style as a play caller?
“Aggressive,” Grubb immediately answered. Then he explained further.
“We’re going to be aggressive,” Grubb continued. “We want guys to … I think that when the players, when it works the best, the understanding that the players have that we got to be responsible with the football, not go backwards, make sure we’re always matriculating the ball down the field, but then be ready for an opportunity to take the shot.”
“Right now we’ve only had two practices with no pads, so a little tough to assess that,” Grubb said. “I think just a commitment to that in general and a mentality here at Alabama, I think bodes well for that. Guys want to be physical type football players. For us, we’re pretty wide as far as the type of runs we run just like we always have been. You’re going to see inside, outside zone. Power. Pin pull. Fly sweep. All the stuff we’ve always done. I don’t think any of the stuff from that standpoint will change. But I think the guys know to win the late games and the playoffs and things like that, there has to be a mindset and demeanor that you’ve got to be able to run the football.”
My “playcalling is overrated” stance is well documented, and being that Kalen DeBoer is an offensive coach, I wouldn’t expect to see much difference in terms of concepts. If Alabama can block and get good QB play, they can have an explosive offense. Time will tell.
The players seem to be pleased with him overall.
“Just being able to be in the offense that he has, as we all saw in 2023, it’s very explosive,” Bernard said. “Just to be able to have that system back, and especially with the guys that we have, I know that we’ll be able to recreate some good things.”
Grubb coached Bernard for one season at Washington after transferring in from Michigan State. The wideout described his coach’s style when dealing with players.
“He just wants the best out of everybody, so he just coaches everybody hard,” Grubb said. “And then, most importantly, he’s just aggressive with the way that he calls plays, he’s not afraid to take any chances, take any shots.”
Kennington Smith III examines how Grubb’s return might impact the team.
While the quarterback competition is the biggest storyline, it’s worth noting that each offensive position group has a question that must be answered. The running game needs a new identity after Jalen Milroe’s departure, the receiver group has several new faces, and the tight end group and the offensive line are light on numbers because of injuries.
But Alabama’s coaching staff has a full-time assistant coach at each position, which gives Grubb the ability to be an overseer.
“It gives me the flexibility to be in the rooms that I need to be in and talk to the people I gotta talk to,” Grubb said. “If another position group or a coach needs help, I can move myself into that room and try to utilize my skills with the offense somewhere else. But most of the time, it’s always gonna be with the quarterbacks. I think that relationship is key.”
Last, a profile on a little known tight end transfer, who hails from Tuscaloosa.
But Hobson was “kind of an unknown,” much like the player that appeared on Alabama football’s 2025 roster the day before spring practice began. And he was not the same player he was for Mitchell at Hillcrest.
On Alabama’s roster, the former Mississippi State and South Alabama offensive lineman is now a 6-foot-5, 255-pound tight end, 40 pounds lighter than what he was listed as on the Bulldogs’ 2023 roster.
But to Mitchell, Hobson will always be the player who “passed the eye test real quick.”
“He was going to really blow up,” Mitchell said. “Nobody really knew about him, and he’s a super, super talented kid. And then, sure enough, we had several other kids being recruited, and coaches show up. One of the first players they asked about, saying ‘Gollee, who’s that big dude?’”
Hobson has a shot to write one hell of a story.
That’s about it for now. Have a great day.
Roll Tide.
