The hire of Kalen DeBoer to replace Nick Saban as Alabama football’s head coach signaled wholesale change in the Crimson Tide’s offensive system. The attack DeBoer led at the University of Washington on his way to a College Football Playoff championship game appearance in January looked nothing at all like the system Tommy Rees directed at Alabama last season as Saban’s last offensive coordinator.
But wholesale change doesn’t necessarily come at warp speed, and as Alabama begins game-week preparations to face Western Kentucky in the season opener at Bryant-Denny Stadium Saturday (6 p.m. CT, ESPN), DeBoer cautioned that the transition to his system has been incremental, and that game plan must be well-suited to the talent on hand.
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To review, here’s what DeBoer offered on that subject in his introductory press conference in January: “It’s always going to be around our personnel. Yes, we’re going to recruit the best, the highest-character guys, but we’re going to be able to have concepts and systems that are able to be adjusted to what we have and what our strengths are.”
Fast-forward seven months to Monday of Week 1, when I asked DeBoer how much his offensive system at UW had to be adjusted to suit the personnel he inherited: “There are certainly some adjustments that coach (Nick) Sheridan (and) our staff have done in working with the personnel. That will continue to evolve as the season goes along. You have guys who continue to improve, especially younger guys who are taking those next steps. They’ll make those big steps, and you’ll incorporate them. There might be a package at some point that they’re incorporated in, and all the sudden it’s something where they’re a regular player, and maybe even a starter.”
Translation: an offseason of incremental change will keep right on incrementing into the fall. And those who struggle to adjust, by November, might find their snap counts slipping away to those who adjust best.
Alabama had the heaviest offensive line in the SEC last year by more than 20 pounds per man, well-suited for a power running game. The DeBoer system calls on offensive linemen for much more pulling and releasing into space than the Rees system did, not exactly the forte one could expect of Alabama’s bullish 350-pounders. This is why team captain and left guard Tyler Booker dropped more than 20 pounds in the offseason. It’s why center Parker Brailsford’s transfer from Washington was a big win for the lineup. And it’s no doubt part of why the battle waged between Wilkin Formby and Elijah Pritchett for the right tackle role will bleed into the season.
At quarterback, Jalen Milroe burned defenses last year with a heavy dose of deep shots in the passing game on the way to an SEC title. Along with that came a tendency to hold the ball too long, which made for a sour mix with the offensive line’s struggles in pass protection. DeBoer’s system, with drafted-first-round quarterback Michael Penix, placed more emphasis on getting the ball out quickly and taking the cheaper, safer profits of the short passing game. That’ll be one of Milroe’s biggest adjustments, one he’s no doubt invested much of the offseason in making.
Tight ends will likely be a bigger part of the UA offense as well; more involved in pre-snap motion, more involved in perimeter blocking, more involved in the passing attack.
But a carbon copy of Washington’s offense against WKU? Don’t expect it.
That could take a year or more. But moving further in that direction will only take weeks.
Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread is also the weekly co-host of Crimson Cover TV on WVUA-23. Reach him at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on X.com @chasegoodbread.
