March Madness finally comes to an end with the SEC’s Florida Gators winning their third National Championship and first under coach Todd Golden. This feat of three crowns just seems odd for a school that most folks don’t consider a “basketball school”. Hopefully, it will be Alabama’s turn someday soon.
In the meantime, Nate Oats continues to restructure his roster. One player who definitely will not be back is Mo D.
Dioubate and the Crimson Tide will face off in the 2025-26 season, as the Wildcats are a member of the SEC. He scored a combined 25 points with 21 rebounds in Alabama’s three games (all wins) against Kentucky this season.
Mouhamed Dioubate Announces Transfer Destination
That decision sure seemed to come mighty fast. And dare I say, it is not a step up.
Now that bouncey-balls are in the rearview mirror, we can turn our attention back to football. One of the biggest talking points at Saban Field at Bryant Denny Stadium is who will be starting quarterback. Well, don’t expect an answer anytime soon.
“I think we’ve got three really, really good quarterbacks, and I mean that,” Crimson Tide offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb told ESPN this week. “I don’t think anybody has separated. They’re all playing good, but they’re not playing great yet. You’re looking for the guy that’s going to be consistent, that can show up the same and make the same plays all the time.”
Latest on Alabama QB competition from Ryan Grubb
Nick Kelly has some opinions about all this.
…The transfer portal is about to open for 10 days, starting April 16.
If Alabama were to name a starting quarterback, either Ty Simpson, Austin Mack or Keelon Russell, before or after A-Day, at least one quarterback likely bolts. Or more accurately, another program likely tries to pluck one of the two non-starters from the roster.
It’s a brand new world, y’all.
Why Alabama football shouldn’t name a starting QB until August
One of the best news stories of the Spring is the lack of injuries (knock on wood).
“We track the availability report for every team in the SEC and the Big Ten, because from that, we could get an injury rate for every program,” Alabama senior associate athletics director for health and performance Jeff Allen said Monday evening on the “Hey Coach” radio show. “Alabama has the lowest injury rate between the Big Ten and the SEC.”
Alabama is so blessed to have Jeff Allen, Director of Sports Performance David Ballou, and other support staff who help keep the team healthy. It’s another part of the legacy of Nick Saban.
Alabama had lowest football injury rate among SEC and Big Ten schools in 2024, per staffer
There is reason to believe that Kalen DeBoer and his staff may be a little better adjusted to following in the footsteps of the G.O.A.T. Linebacker Deontae Lawson had the quote of the day:
“Coach DeBoer had his battles last year, replacing a legend like Coach [Nick] Saban in the middle of the transfer portal, and it was hard to implement everything the way he wanted,” said linebacker Deontae Lawson, a returning captain.
“It was kind of hard for him to come in and be the bad cop or whatever last year. He’s still laid back and still wants the players to lead, but his fingerprints are on everything now — and he’s made it known that you better be locked in.”
DeBoer flashed an easy smile when told of Lawson’s “bad cop” analogy.
“It was more that we were in retention mode,” DeBoer told ESPN on Monday. “I wouldn’t say we slacked off on any of the things that would be the standard of what we need to do and how you need to operate.
“But I do think there’s another level of an edge, a harder edge.”
There is a good deal of talk about KDB taking more charge and being more controlling in Year 2. Music to my ears. That process worked pretty well for his predecessor. This is a pretty good read from Chris Low.
DeBoer says Alabama has ‘a harder edge’ in his second season
In CBSSports latest Mock Draft, Pete Prisco has two Alabama players being drafted in the first round but neither of them has their name rhyming with “Malen Jilroe”.
The Tide baseball team hosts #23 Southern Miss at 6pm CT and Women’s Golf are in action somewhere. Go forth and Roll Tide.
