Everything Kalen DeBoer said after Alabama's first preseason practice

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama held its first preseason practice on Wednesday morning, and after the July 30 workout, second-year head coach Kalen DeBoer spoke to reporters inside the Hank Crisp Indoor Practice Facility. Below is everything DeBoer said after Practice 1.

DeBoer’s opening statement…

“Just finished one, right? And there should be all the energy at a high level, and we had that. The question’s always gonna be for the guys, as I just addressed them, is can they sustain it? That’s what it was in January when they brought the intensity. And early on, you could tell these guys were determined, and that’s been the challenge to them. Question I keep asking them, and ask them again, and it’s the season. It’s a practice, it’s a play. It’s sustaining the intensity at the level from start to finish. But good day, and open for questions.”

DeBoer on Deontae Lawson…

“His trajectory is going up. Deontae, his leadership is the thing. I think that’s really come out, so that’s exciting. He is gonna be limited, and just the number of reps, the volume – I guess the best way to put it – and what he can take, as expected. And that was gonna be the plan, just with his timeline from the beginning. But it’s great having him out there. I think he feels really good about being out there. Mentally and physically, I think he’s in a really good spot. But there’s still progress to be made as we build for the first game.”

DeBoer on Jalen Hale…

“Just Jalen Jalen and where he was at a year ago with the injury, actually, in the spring of 2024, just a pretty significant injury at the time. And between he and then our medical staff just doing an awesome job of pushing forward, our whole team is proud of him, not just me. We’ve talked about that in the winter, during December, I remember addressing it as a team. Guys being excited about him finally doing some things with the team. And then the spring was the next step, then through the summer and him out there.

“But there’s reps that he hasn’t taken. Banked reps that other guys have. And so he’s still learning as we go. Every rep, he’s gonna get more and more confident. But he’s certainly got a lot of tools, and I want to see his growth. Excited about that this fall.”

DeBoer on which position group surprised him today…

“Surprise, it’s hard because we’re literally in spider pads and helmets. And so from a physicality standpoint, things like that, there’s limitations on what you can see and do. But yeah, I think as expected, I think our defensive backfield is, but that’s expected. And so I thought it was just good back and forth, as it should. I feel like we got, for the most part, a balanced team. And so it didn’t feel like one position completely dominated another, or one was getting dominated. So I thought it was good balance across the board as a team.”

DeBoer on what he saw from each Alabama quarterback on Day 1… 

“Yeah, I think they’ve all taken steps through the summer. And you can see they are definitely more comfortable with the install. A lot of it’s the reps they get with the play concepts they have, but the footwork, and just the confidence with that. And some of the new things that we’ve added in, so Ty and Austin, those things are still new this spring. And they’ve now become very comfortable with, and it’s subtle stuff. 

“But probably Keelon’s gonna be the one that you’re gonna see the biggest jump naturally, and I feel like that was good. I mean, he’s making quick decisions and not sitting there thinking too much. But I felt all of them did.

“I think Ty, we’ve talked about all the quarterbacks, but just the gimme, the ones that are just should be 100% making those plays all the time. And I really felt like he did that. He got probably more opportunities just because of the way the plays developed. To have more of those gimmes, and those gimmes add up. Gimmes are five-yard gains that turn into 15 and 20, and sometimes explosives. And they keep the chains moving.

“And so I like the mindset of our quarterbacks because when you can trust your quarterback to go through his progression and be OK with checking it down and not forcing something, you can call, as a play caller, a lot more balls down the field. And know that it’s not just gonna be an incomplete pass or an explosive play. There’s gonna be a progression, and it’s gonna be some type of movement down the field. It’s gonna put you in manageable down and distances, whether it’s second, third, or fourth.”

DeBoer on if he changes the QB rep distribution from the spring…

“We’ll start out pretty consistent with probably how we finished the spring. And again, Keelon’s reps continue to build up from what it was in spring, where he was primarily with the threes and fours. But here early on, you’re just installing and you’re trying to give each quarterback, along with each other position and player, the reps of the install. And then once you get past that first kind of round of installs, then you really start kind of probably dialing it in at that time. But we’ll play it by ear as we go, because if someone separates themselves, one, two guys, then you do make adjustments along the way.”

DeBoer on if the experience on defense shows up quickly…

“Yes, there is definitely the veterans and then the younger guys. The veterans, it starts with communication and the confidence with that communication. Just guys in sync, knowing the space that they’ve got to cover between two guys in the secondary or the back half. You can just see the gelling of that. They’re really – I can’t really think of anything where it felt like there was a missed assignment or something that was blown, really all day.

“Our offense does a lot of stuff to put a lot of pressure on you to communicate to have to see motions, shifting and things like that. From where we were at a year ago or even end of the season, you can see the banked reps that we’ve taken adding up and you know the physical piece will continue to happen as we put on the pads and add that part to it.”

DeBoer on the continuity entering Year 2…

“Yeah, it’s just even the logistics of how you practice and the transitions, where guys go, the flow is just on another level and it’s even going to be much better than what it was at the end of the fall because you still had the spring. Just locations on the field and who you’re going to and those drills and now it isn’t just those drills you’re learning. You’re learning those details, and the details and how they apply to the play. You’re not just doing that drill on its own and it’s isolated. It’s how its going to affect you when you’re in the situation, maybe five, ten times throughout the season, but you can apply it, because we’ve shown it, now they remember and they’ve processed it and now they can go operate and execute.”

DeBoer on the health of the tight end group…

“It will continue to get better and better. It’s in a good spot. This was gonna be how it was when the injuries happened. Cuevas is gonna continue to add volume. I think that’s the best word to use, because he’s practicing. Danny Lewis, the same thing. They’re adding volume, the number of reps from start to finish. It’s not just team, it’s not just individual. But they’ve had a really good summer, and their progress is as we had hoped, as we expected.

“And the rest of the guys, Marshall, I know, didn’t practice at the end of the spring with what he had. A couple other guys, too, they’re all full-go. We got more tight ends out there now, all of a sudden, than we could have ever imagined. But they’re all competing and working together, doing a good job.”

DeBoer on two-way players like Travis Hunter…

“When you have someone that can really fit into a goal line package and be the extra tight end and maybe take a defensive end or a defensive lineman and add him to a personnel grouping, we’ll certainly be open to that. Or if there’s a specific guy that has just a skill that we don’t have. I think for the most part each side of the ball has what they need. If they wanted to do something special we have that on that side of the ball. There isn’t someone that is so much better going both ways like that situation to where we feel the need to do that at this point.”

DeBoer on the quarterbacks getting to face an experienced defense…

“A lot of the competition right now is a lot of pressure on them. There’s pressure to play in games and the quarterback pressure that exists going through the season, but really the pressure that they have to compete and win the spot is something that’s preparing them for those times in the games. Going against a defense like ours. Our defense does a really good job.

“I think they’re getting better and better at disguising things, which means you don’t know where things might always come from and guys just better playmakers. They can cover a lot of ground. They’re not just giving you those gimmies, those blown coverages, you’re having to make plays. Quarterbacks did a good job of taking calculated risks at the right time. They didn’t put our offense in jeopardy, really, throughout practice. They’re being challenged by, obviously, a group on the other side of the ball that we’ve got a lot of confidence in right now.”

DeBoer on the running back competition behind Jam Miller…

“You’ve got Rich Young, Daniel Hill coming back also. I feel like those guys are healthier than they probably ever were last season throughout the year. And then Dre. Dre Washington. I thought he had a really nice practice today. You can see a new guy that’s come in and you’re seeing the install a second or third time, from spring, summer to fall and how, just like we were talking about with the quarterback position, how it is clicking more. So he’s got himself right in the mix there for sure as we kind of narrow down.

“There’s skillsets and different things that each guy brings, body types are a little bit different, but in the end, it’s not like someone is so much different to where it affects who’s in there. We’re just teaching them all the offense. Especially when we get into the padded and physicality and tackling pieces, that’s a big part of it is breaking tackles, being able to get in there to protect for the quarterback and do a great job of it. Really, they’re all competing, but that’s really where it’s at with those guys. They’re all doing a good job.”

DeBoer on the left guard competition…

“Geno and Kam, both of them doing a great job all summer. Super competitive. Geno in year two now with us. Comfortable in the offense. Kam has just been, he’s had a lot of urgency to really put himself physically and mentally in a spot to where he’s competing for that position. They probably do have different tools that are their strengths. They’re both really good, well-rounded football players. But both of them can do a few things a little better than the other. It’s just a matter of the best five guys and how they fit into that.”

DeBoer on the specialist competitions…

“Specialists as a whole, we had a lot of special teams guys. I know that’s not what your question is. Freshmen that played a lot of reps on the units. The specialists, though, all graduating on. Obviously, we’ve got some holes there. I felt good about what you see with the longsnapper position and the replacement there. And then I think Talty has done a really nice job, how he’s really, from last year, taken on the role and dove into it. Did a nice job on kickoffs, and I think that experience and just his growth showed consistency through the spring and was having it today. I thought he was solid the different times we had him out there doing his thing.

“The punter position is probably the one that is the most open where you’ve got a couple guys, Alex and Blake, both coming into the program. Blake in particular had some reps this spring, but still growing and getting stronger. Those two guys competing. Alex is now physically in a better spot too. His progress is I guess better than expected from a physical standpoint just being able to go out there and do it. I’m excited about the competition those two will bring. I know the ceiling for them, they’ve got some pretty high ceilings. I’m expecting some big things from them.”

DeBoer on who’s working at holder…

“A lot of times, it’s within that unit. You’re going to have your punters a lot of times. I thought Blake did a nice job today. Anderson does a nice job too. A lot of times, because they’re together so much, as long as they can do it, that familiarity, that consistency with all the reps they take each and every day, that’s the starting point for us. I always like to, at some point, get a quarterback involved or some skill guy. That puts a little pressure on the other team when you know you’ve got that ability there to have a playmaker holding the football. We’ll see as we go through the fall.”

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