Kalen DeBoer confirms Bubba Hampton left Alabama program during fall camp

Alabama wide receiver Bubba Hampton is no longer with the program, Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer said on Wednesday. This goes back a few weeks, into the preseason portion of the season. No exact reason was provided by DeBoer when speaking on the matter.

“Bubba has not been with us for quite a while,” DeBoer said via the SEC Coaches Teleconference. “Going into early fall camp.”

Hampton was a late recruiting flip for DeBoer in Alabama’s 2024 class. He played high school football at Daingerfield (TX), where he was a four-star prospect. According to the Rivals Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies, Hampton was the No. 251 overall recruit in the 2024 cycle.

In his one season in Tuscaloosa, Hampton wound up playing in three games to preserve an extra year of eligibility. Only one catch shows up on the stat sheet for Hampton during his true freshman campaign, going for six yards during a nonconference game against Mercer.

Positive signs were being shown on the practice field. Hampton even received public recognition for the work he did leading into the USF matchup, being named one of the offensive scout players of the week. A nice honor for him early in his college career.

However, Hampton will continue his college football career elsewhere. Next steps were not revealed by DeBoer, nor has the player himself spoken on the matter. For now, all we know is that Hampton is not a part of Alabama’s program anymore.

Kalen DeBoer explains decision to play Austin Mack early against ULM

The Alabama Crimson Tide bounced back in Week 2 and took care of business to the tune of a 73-0 win over ULM. Within that game, head coach Kalen DeBoer was able to play three different quarterbacks. That included getting backup Austin Mack into the game early, jumping in during the second quarter for Ty Simpson.

That’s a tactic that DeBoer has used before, going back to his time at Fresno State. It often worked there, and in doing so now at Alabama, he was looking to add some competition, get Mack some playing time, and make sure Simpson responded well.

“Yeah, it’s something I’ve done a number of times over the years,” Kalen DeBoer said. “Going way back. That’s one of the more recent ones. Jake [Haener] bowed up. He bowed up, and I thought Ty responded pretty well, too. It’s one of those that they kind of question, probably, at first — why? But I think competition is just going to bring out the best in everyone, and I think that did that for Ty in his week of preparation.”

On3’s Dan Morrison contributed to this report