Everything Kalen DeBoer said after Alabama's 2024 A-Day Game

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama concluded its spring season on Saturday with the 2024 A-Day Game, which saw the offense outduel the defense, 34-28. Shortly after his first spring game at Bryant-Denny Stadium, which drew 72,358 fans, first-year head coach Kalen DeBoer spoke to reporters behind the lectern. Below is everything DeBoer said after the A-Day Game.

DeBoer’s opening statement…

“Great day. Fun day just all together. Obviously, it culminates with the scrimmage, and we get to go spend some time with the guys and their families. We got a chance to meet the parents this morning. Met with some different groups. Got the chance to get Coach Saban in front of the team. That was pretty cool. Just a good chance to see him. It’s been since January really where that’s happened. Really, a lot of cool things.

“Scrimmage-wise, shoot, if it was a half, it would have been a tale of two halves, but that’s why you keep playing. So many things that we’re gonna get to learn from from this scrimmage, depending on what side of the ball you’re on. Overall, I think I counted – I tried to keep track during, so I may be off – but I think we had six penalties between the two sides, which over 85 plays probably, roughly, that’s not too bad. That’s actually improved each and every scrimmage. So I’m looking at those things, where we’re improving.

“Rushing touchdowns, offensively, and the response defensively, getting down early and some of those things. The little things that the game brings with the TV, ESPN broadcasting it and us working through TV timeouts and when to take the huddle and just talking through that. Right now, not that big of a deal if we’re out there standing over the ball, but it will be this fall. Just a lot of things with guys who have never had that game action, starting with the quarterbacks to the rest of the offensive and defensive sides. 

“I thought it was a good overall scrimmage, again. Both sides kind of had their moments.”

DeBoer on what surprised him about the running back group 

“I thought they did a better job of when they saw a hole today, they hit it, especially early on. There were some seams and they’re not dancing, which means they’re getting more and more comfortable with the schemes and trusting the offensive line. There were a couple more tackles broken, which goes both ways. You want to see those tackles made by the defense, but there were more tackles broken early on in the scrimmage than what I’ve seen. We’ve been pretty sure with our tackling up until the early part of the scrimmage today, and then they responded and did a better job.”

DeBoer on Ty Simpson, the backup quarterbacks…

“You saw it. He does a great job back there. You’ve got full confidence with a lot of those guys back there. But Ty, I thought he’s just been consistent and gotten better throughout the spring. Never really had any drops in each and every practice. You see what he does out there. He’s accurate, he knows when to put touch on it. You saw the one ball on the deep crosser, he’s got good awareness. I thought all the quarterbacks did a better job of pushing the pocket at the right times. That’s something I know we’ve been emphasizing, rather than just sitting back there and let the rush on edges get to you. He had a good feel on all those plays. I think he’s got a command of the offense, for sure.”

DeBoer on Olaus Alinen and Roq Montgomery playing multiple positions today…

“That’s what we needed to do a little bit out of necessity just with some guys getting dinged up, and just being careful, too, with guys maybe that have been dinged up and just limiting the number of snaps up front. But it was good for those guys to work in because you do see a difference with the execution on the offensive line when one or two new guys are inserted. There’s just another level of communication. So these are the moments where you want to do that. Come this fall, when we get into the season and we’re playing games, you want to be able to look back and count on these moments where those guys were inserted and had to do some things where it was different groups working together than really any of the scrimmages that we’ve had. Good learning moment not just for them but the offensive line in general working together.”

DeBoer on the status of Jihaad Campbell and Jehiem Oatis…

“They’re doing good. If we had another week – for sure, if we had two weeks – but if we had another week of spring ball, by the end of next week, I’m not the one that clears them, but I think they’d probably be really close to being ready to go. You just want to be careful and not push it. We don’t want to set them back, and they’re right on pace. They’re right where we expected them to be based on what they each had, which were completely different types of injuries.”

DeBoer on Germie Bernard’s adjustment to Alabama, A-Day Game performance…

“I think he had a great day. I’m not sure if that was him right at the end there. I’d like to rake that one in. But you saw it right away. The one that sticks out to me where it was the catch in contact. He went and high-pointed the ball way down the field – that was him, right? It was way down the field. I thought it was him. Sometimes I’m watching a lot of things. But that’s what he does. He’s a physical guy. The ball is up in the air, it’s his. He’s got that mindset. I think the guys, the quarterbacks in particular, really believe in him. He’s a leader because that’s just naturally what he does, but he’s just really tried to work in with the receiving corps, become one of them, and he had some opportunities today and took advantage of them. He’s going to be a good one for us, that’s for sure.”

DeBoer on how does spring football at Alabama compare to Sioux Falls…

“(Laughs) Well, we go back so far, we couldn’t even get to the point where you could go full pads back then with the rules. The spring game was thud tempo, so there’s are a lot of differences. There were 72,000 people here today. We were just shy of that there. But the cool thing is, football is football, and what you see at all the places you’re at are guys that love to get out there and they’re excited about their opportunity to go out and make plays and play the game they love. But this was a special day, special day.”

DeBoer on Jalen Milroe’s big plays vs. more methodical drives…

“I think it’s come along for all the quarterbacks, so that would mean with Jalen, too, it’s something that’s progressed throughout the spring. I don’t think any of our guys because it’s just timing. It’s confidence, it’s read progressions and things like that and identifying. There’s my one-on-one, there’s a guy, where to put the ball? I think it’s been something that’s gotten to this point, and it was great to see him continue to take that next step and have that progression. The last week or two, I think, that’s been pretty consistent. Early on, I can’t say any of the quarterbacks were just getting dialed in and those plays were being made. 

“That’s what got the offense off to a hot start in the scrimmage were those explosive plays, and I love that we can come out of the locker room and the kickoff happened and we’re ready to go. Throw, catch, protection, especially in the first half to three quarters, the protection was as good as we’ve had. Now, some of that’s attributed to, early on, just kind of being a little bit more maybe vanilla defensively, things like that, but the offense stayed ahead of the chains and stayed in positions where they could be dual-threat, run-pass options, and take your shots when they were there.”

DeBoer on what resonated the most in his first spring at Alabama….

“I think today was probably the day where it just really felt – seeing the guys come on the Walk of Champions, just seeing that and feeling the energy and excitement of what it would be on a Saturday. That was a lot of fun. And being in the locker room, just the excitement. Even today out there, I though the guys, as hard as they were playing, there were times when they were just looking out for each other, too. I don’t care if it was offense-offense, defense-defense, but most importantly offense and defense playing the game the way it was supposed to be played and the energy, wanting to go out there and make the plays but also not putting the team at risk just to go up and make that potential play that could put someone at risk. The energy, the excitement leading up to the spring game was something I think kind of hit me today.”

DeBoer on if it was fun to see the Alabama fan support in person…

“I caught that a little bit, I think, early on, just enjoying that moment. And I think as much as anything, trying to make sure the guys did, too. You take it in. You emphasize to the guys, ‘Hey, enjoy this moment. You guys worked hard for this.’ For a lot of these guys, this is their first spring game, as well, their first A-Day. A lot of freshmen and some transfers. I made sure that they relished this day. When you say those things, you do it yourself, as well.”

DeBoer on if he takes delight in no turnovers as an offensive guy…

“That would’ve been the difference probably in the scoring. That’s usually, with the scoring system we use, where you get the takeaways and the score evens up in a hurry. The offense has done a pretty good job. I don’t think in any of the scrimmages, the quarterbacks threw a pick in all three of them. Now, there were times when the ball was on the ground in a couple scrimmages. Defense flying around has caused some turnovers throughout the spring and got their share of interceptions in our different scrimmages that we’ve had that weren’t part of the big three when we’re live. When it matters most, I guess you’re proud. I noticed some ball security, too, that I was impressed with. I think that’s come a long ways. I watched a drill on Thursday in particular where it’s a circuit that we run and ball security for these guys. You kind of hammer and scream at them over and over for 15 practices, and you’re like, ‘Man, I don’t know if they’re getting it.’ But you see on Thursday how far we’ve come if you flip the film on from that drill compared to the first day.”

DeBoer on what he liked about the defensive response after getting down 31-0…

“Really, just not worrying about the score. I heard that on that side, just not worry about it, just continue to get better and be in the moment. Get the guys on the ground when they had the chance to tackle and play the next play. We talk in terms of a 1-0 mindset, so win the next rep, and they did that more than the offense did in the second part of the scrimmage. I think the flip side is there were some easy plays the offense just need to make, catching the ball in particular. For whatever reason, those are some great learning moments that we will carry into the summer, on both sides – why you don’t stop playing and why you’ve gotta keep your head and keep the focus and stay locked for the entire time you’re on the football field.

“Alright, thank you. Roll Tide.”

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