Alabama Installing Offense Soon

Mobile - AL. The Crimson Tide aren't as represented as usual at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama. Edge rusher Chris Braswell, defensive lineman Justin Eboigbe, and kicker Will Reichard are the only representatives from the 2023 SEC champions.

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As a result, fans would think the Senior Bowl might not be as important of an event for Alabama this season, right?

That's not the case. In addition to Reichard making g a 60-yard field goal in practice (with room to spare), Alabama fans had a reason to tune in on Wednesday, as it appeared the bulk of Alabama's new staff were in Mobile. DeBoer and defensive coordinator Kane Wommack were visiting with former Washington QB Michael Penix Jr. during the first practice.

Many fans wonder why Coach DeBoer took the Alabama job right after the retirement of Nick Saban. Who would want to fill the shoes of the greatest coach of all time? Coach DeBoer had an answer,

There's only one Coach Saban. There are different ways of doing it to be successful, We want to uphold those traditions and all those things that have made this place special, but everyone will have their own fingerprints on it when it comes to what we do offensively and defensively and obviously myself as a head coach.

Coach DeBoer said he hit the ground running and hasn't come up for air yet since taking the Alabama job, "That's okay, it means there's a lot of people pulling me in a lot of different directions. It's been fun getting to know our team and they're doing a great job on campus. They're really steady now in their workouts."

On the offensive side of the football, Coach DeBoer is about to produce two first-round draft picks at wide receiver. Is that a pretty strong recruiting pitch?

When you put it like that with two potential first round draft picks, I think it sells itself. When you dive into how we got to that point, it's scheme, but it's a lot of development. That's going to happen not only at the wide receiver position, but across the board in our football team.

With the dead period beginning February 5, DeBoer and his staff will return to Alabama to be with the team,

We're looking forward to next week and being around our guys and spending time with our team back on campus. Those that have come with us from Washington, there's certainly an understanding of  the system and what certain concepts are called and how we teach them.

DeBoer highlighted two of his quarterbacks when talking about the Crimson Tide offense,

Hopefully back on campus they're picking up on those things with Jalen (Milroe) and Austin (Mack), as well as having a center there like Parker (Brailsford) who knows all the calls and we can hit the ground running here next week when it comes to installing offensive and defensive systems.

Crimson Tide fans won't have to wait too long to get a glimpse at DeBoer's offensive and defensive schemes. Alabama's annual spring game is set for April 13th, two days before the opening of the spring transfer portal window. The Crimson Tide will take the field for the first time in the DeBoer era, and there will be a flurry of fans there to see it.