Tyler Booker describes personal and offensive changes under Kalen DeBoer

New Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer obviously has some big shoes to follow as he follows the footsteps of Nick Saban and looks to maintain the championship foundation and standard placed before him with the Crimson Tide.

DeBoer is different than Saban, regarded as an offensive-minded head coach compared to Saban’s experience on the defensive side of the ball. So when offensive lineman Tyler Booker was asked about how things are different between the two head coaches, he couldn’t help but mention the role that their bias towards each side of the ball plays in practices.

“It’s really our team, so obviously he’s the coach, he’s gonna call the plays. But if we feel comfortable with a certain play call, certain formation, he’s going to cater the offense towards that and I’m very excited to have that,” Booker said on SEC Network during media days on Wednesday. “And especially him being an offensive-minded head coach, playing for Coach Saban the past few years, practices have been a little bit skewed.”

Booker was then asked if Saban would let the offense win at practice when facing off against the defense during his tenure.

“Not often, and when we did it felt great,” Booker said. “But now we have an offensive-minded head coach so maybe the tides will turn this fall camp. We’ll see.”

Aside from some favorable calls in scrimmages, Booker also spoke about the differences he anticipates seeing up front with Alabama’s offensive line this upcoming season. Comparing last year’s performance to what he forecasts this season looking like in the trenches.

“Well last year the mindset was to be dominant. Go out, dominate every play, protect the quarterback, open up holes in the run game, and we fell short when it came to the pass game,” Booker admitted. “I feel like last year when we wanted to run the ball, when we need to run the ball, we did that effectively. Now we just have a bunch of new guys on the offensive line and we’re honing in on those pass protection skills. So I feel like we were missing that last year.

“But as far as the offensive line goes, our mindset is still the same. We still want to go out and dominate, we still want to make people quit, and that’s never going to change because that’s a part of being at the University of Alabama.”

The offensive line has been a position of strength for the Crimson Tide for a long time. But last season quarterback Jalen Milroe was sacked more than any other quarterback in the SEC and at Alabama in the last two decades.

But Booker dropping some weight may help in the protection of his starter and his effectiveness as a blocker. Currently weighing 330 pounds, Booker already sees the benefits in several different aspects of his life.

“I’m changing my body for a me thing personally, I played pretty heavy last year at 350 [pounds]. I felt a little but slower so I wanted to come up off this weight and really give my team the best chance to win because the better I play, the better our team does,” Booker added.

“I’m just moving a lot better, I feel a lot better, and then just eating better things. Like my skin looks better too eating healthier.”.

A new-look Booker and a new-look Alabama offense under DeBoer has the potential to be dangerous this upcoming season in the SEC. As all eyes will be on DeBoer to see if he can keep the Crimson Tide at a championship level.