All Greg Byrne asked for was 72 hours. Just an hour earlier, he had been a part of a stunned meeting room when Nick Saban had announced he’d step down.
With over 1,000 messages bombarding his phone, the Alabama Athletic Director knew replacing the iconic HC and his 17 season-long dominance complete with 206 wins and nine SEC championships, was going to be a tall task. What he also knew was the repercussions would be far and wide—the first sign of which came when Isaiah Bond and Caleb Downs departed the roster within a week. A mass exodus soon followed.
North of at least 30 players left the team for greener pastures. The community lost all hope, Alabama Crimson Tide seemed burned to the ground. However, exactly 49 hours after Saban left, Byrne posted a photo of a chimney of a Tuscaloosa barbecue joint signaling a “new pope” or in that case, Kalen DeBoer’s entry as HC.
“I’m going to put everything into this program every single day,” the coach had said, signaling a new dawn, which as per a latest update has turned into a scorching ball of fire shining brightly over the roster. In simple words?
Kalen DeBoer has pulled off the IMPOSSIBLE.
As per an X update by Tide 100.9’s Ryan C Fowler on April 25, “Breaking News: The NCAA Transfer Portal period has ended, and no Crimson Tide players have entered the portal. Keep in mind that schools still have a few hours to process any players who may have decided late last night. However, my sources tell me that Alabama will not have any scholarship players entering the portal.” What’s more?
Step 1 of 8
Quiz of the day
Steve Sarkisian
Kalen DeBoer
Matt Rhule
Nick Saban
AD
“The Crimson Tide is the only school in the SEC that did not lose a scholarship player during the late portal period. This is an incredible job by Kalen DeBoer, Courtney Morgan, and the entire Alabama Crimson Tide coaching staff. It says a lot about the current team chemistry and the expectations for this team,” the tweet further read.
This also means that the team has retained all of its signal-callers, Ty Simpson, Austin Mack and Keelon Russell. In fact, all the players who’ve left the program are walk-on players. No wonder defensive coordinator Kane Wommack couldn’t hold back when appreciating the DeBoer, who boasts a staggering $70 million buyout.
During a conversation with WNSP radio station on Tuesday, he said, “I think Kalen does a tremendous job. He’s very proactive, he’s very engaging, he’s very relational with people. Certainly, he understands the business side of this game, but he also keeps the main thing the main thing. We are trying to bring out the best in these young men to maximize their opportunities as individuals and our opportunities as a team. Those things go hand in hand.”
“People think you either got to go get yours, right? Or you can sacrifice for the team. The truth is, high tides raise all boats. For us, keeping that mindset for these players – of course, everybody wants our starters – but they want our twos and our threes, as well. I think Kalen has done a really tremendous job of managing that to getting these guys to buy into this team and how that helps them as individuals,” the DC concluded.
Most notably, this comes after the team lost 23 scholarship players in the winter transfer portal window, while adding seven from the portal and 20 from high school.
The NIL and transfer portal have reigned in extreme havoc since their inception in 2021. Coaches like Matt Rhule and Steve Sarkisian canceled the spring games, and many other coaches started voicing concerns that their players were being poached. Players started leaving in masses, so much so that we saw as much as half the number of the whole roster leaving.
In this spring transfer window, over 700 players have already decided to enter the transfer portal across college football. The departures have seen a 25–30% increase since previous years, with players like Nico Iamaleava opting to switch camps. In light of this, the Crimson Tide’s roster retention does bring a sense of calm in the storm. And even Byrne felt the same…
Reacting to a tweet that reported on the same, he boasted on X, “This is something we’re seeing less and less of these days. Credit to everyone involved in our program from student-athletes to coaches and support staff. Proud of our team culture and the emphasis we place on the total development of our young men. #RollTide 🏈”.
The feat is quite huge in context with other football programs, which have seen heavy departures. Colorado has already seen 16 entries in the transfer portal, Illinois has seen 10 entries in the portal, whereas Indiana has also seen nine players opting to switch camps.
The retained roster will surely help Alabama this year to perform unexpectedly and improve on last year’s 9-4 record. But for that, we’ll need to answer whether…
Ty Simpson wins the QB battle for Alabama?
The QB battle at Alabama is now at its zenith. The three players challenging for the spot have their strengths and weaknesses, but they are all talented enough to make the cut.
True freshman Keelon Russel brings immense athleticism and arm talent, whereas Ty Simpson has emerged as a leader in the locker room and is also on the team’s leadership council. Austin Mack, on the other hand, had an incredible spring and looks eager to make the cut. But recently, the Bama head coach has clarified his stance.
“I think the trending upward is a big piece of that. Ty’s an accurate thrower. There’s always going to be balls that every guy wants, but I think the ability to learn from your mistakes, learn from other people’s mistakes—you know, being able to comprehend things, not being overwhelmed—I think that. He’s just had more time. But they’re all doing a lot of really good things together as a group.”
Kalen DeBoer’s statement is certainly an acknowledgment of Ty Simpson’s growth. But even then, the head coach wants the battle to probably go in the fall camp.
Simpson, a redshirt sophomore, has played in 15 games for the Tides and completed 14 of the 25 passes he attempted. In addition to his 167 passing yards, he has also gained 44 rushing yards and scored a touchdown. The experience is certainly lacking in all three quarterbacks, but if anyone is expected to do the job, it will probably be Ty Simpson.
Leave a Reply