Kalen DeBoer sees no cadence issues for Alabama after Ryan Day's comments
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Ohio State head coach Ryan Day believes that Alabama’s issues with snaps this past season may not rest solely on new Buckeye Seth McLaughlin’s shoulders.
“Seth’s snaps have been great,” Day said on Tuesday. “I know that was a little bit of a concern. I think that had a lot to do with maybe the cadence or whatever. But so far, he’s been doing great.”
Alabama had issues with low and poorly-timed snaps throughout last season. The Crimson Tide led the nation in “disaster plays” in 2023, according to Parker Fleming, which include bad snaps, bad QB catch of snap and broken plays. Alabama finished its 2023 campaign with 35 “disaster plays.” The next closest teams were Buffalo and Sam Houston State with 22.
Asked about Day’s comments after the Tide’s fifth practice of the spring on Thursday, head coach Kalen DeBoer shared his assessment of the Alabama quarterback room’s cadence.
“I guess I only can really go off of what we’ve done right now, and we haven’t had any problems there,” DeBoer said on Thursday. “We use our cadence and it’s the clap cadence. Jalen, all the quarterbacks have done a good job. I think, from what I see, we haven’t really had any problems at all.”
Jalen Milroe is back at Alabama as its returning starter at the quarterback position, and DeBoer and the Crimson Tide’s new offensive staff have been complimentary of him through five spring practices. Milroe, as expected, has taken all of the first-team reps up to this point and is leading an Alabama quarterback room that features three other promising players.
“We have some great ones in the room. Jalen’s certainly been headlining that room and doing a great job there, really taking in the offense, leading,” said DeBoer in an interview with Tide 100.9. “He’s done a great job in all facets and things you’d want a quarterback to do.”
As for the center position, that was left vacant after McLaughlin entered the transfer portal and committed to Ohio State. Two centers have worked with the first offensive line during the media viewing periods – James Brockermeyer and Washington transfer Parker Brailsford – and new offensive line coach Chris Kapilovic wants to train 8-10 players to snap.
The snapping problems have clearly been discussed and are a focus for the new UA staff.
“Obviously, everybody heard about it,” said Kapilovic earlier this spring. “We train those guys. We teach them the techniques. We grade them every day. Every snap is charted. It’s something we take serious offseason, in-season. They’re snapping year-round.”
Not a member, Alabama fans? Join BOL today!
Have you subscribed to BamaOnLine.com yet? You can sign up for ONE MONTH of premium access to our Alabama coverage for just $11.99! Be able to read all of BOL’s premium articles and nuggets covering Alabama sports and recruiting and also join thousands of other Crimson Tide fans around the globe on the BOL Round Table message board! CLICK HERE!
