Nick Saban announces three key players out for spring practice

The Alabama Crimson Tide began spring practice on Friday and will be looking to get back on the right track after dropping the national championship to Georgia in January. Head coach Nick Saban will be looking for his seventh national championship while in Tuscaloosa.

However, there will be a few road bumps he will be dealing with, even after just one practice.

Saban announced three players will be out for the entirety of spring practice during his session with the media on Friday. Wide receiver Ja’Corey Brooks, offensive lineman Darrian Dalcourt, and linebacker Keanu Koht will not be available for the Crimson Tide until at least the summer.

Brooks will return in what will be an inexperienced Alabama wide receiver group. He finished the 2021 season with 15 receptions for 192 yards and two touchdowns. Most famously, he caught the game-tying pass in the Iron Bowl against Auburn, helping the Crimson Tide stay in the College Football Playoff race.

Dalcourt was the starting center last season, playing in 11 games before dealing with an injury and missing games against New Mexico State and the College Football Playoff semifinal matchup vs. Cincinnati. Seth McLaughlin replaced him and the two were expected to compete for the starting job throughout spring practice.

As for Koht, he did not see any snaps as a true freshman after arriving this past season as a member of the 2021 recruiting class. He was a four-star prospect according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting services. Koht ranked as the No. 37 prospect in the country and the No. 5 linebacker in the country.

Nick Saban addresses possibility of retirement

Nick Saban didn’t hesitate when addressing the possibility of his retirement. The Alabama coach isn’t planning on hanging up the headset any time soon, scoffing at the notion in a recently leaked video.

“Everybody asks me when I wanna retire. Retire from what?” Saban said to a crowd of coaches in Montgomery, Ala., last month. “I’m gonna jump into an empty abyss, aight, of what am I going to do? Because the very challenges that I talk about and the things in our profession that concern me – for you and for me both, in your game and our game – that’s what keeps me going. That’s why I get up every day. That’s why I can’t sleep at night sometimes.

“So why would you quit doing that? I haven’t figured that one out yet.”