CJ Dippre shares he only considered leaving Alabama for the NFL, no other school

Every Alabama player had a choice to make after last season, especially once Nick Saban retired. However, there were only ever going to be two options for TE CJ Dippre.

Dippre discussed his offseason’s decision-making process in a media availability on Wednesday. He said he didn’t consider another transfer with his only thoughts being a return to the Crimson Tide or a move up to the NFL.

“There wasn’t really a thought of leaving unless it was for the draft,” shared Dippre.

Saban stepping down changed everything for everyone down in Tuscaloosa. Still, Dippre wanted the coaching search to play out and fully consider a return to them at the college level before potentially jumping to the pros.

“Obviously it was a big shock to everybody when Coach Saban said he was retiring,” said Dippre. :Then I obviously wanted a chance to meet the new coach, see who it was. There was obviously a lot of speculation. There were four or five coaches in the mix.”

After the hire of Kalen DeBoer, though, it became an easier choice for Dippre. He saw who he was as a coach and person which, like for other members of the roster, made him comfortable with coming back to ‘Bama.

“I’m just really happy with Coach DeBoer,” said Dippre. “He’s a really good coach.”

“You know, I didn’t really know who Coach DeBoer was. I mean, again, they went to the national championship and everything but we lost the game before them so, I mean, we were really still locked into our season just finishing. I never heard of Coach DeBoer. But, you know, he came in, settled the team down. He brought his family, we met his family to see what kind of guy he is. It was awesome,” recalled Dippre. “Personal meetings? I went up as much as I could to sit down with him just to get to meet him. Not much about football. Just personal – who I am, where I’m from, and that I’m excited for the new journey.”

Dippre was a quality addition in the portal for Alabama last offseason after a two-year career at Maryland. He was the No. 2 TE and No. 32 overall transfer per On3’s 2023 Transfer Portal Top Players after catching 33 passes for 339 yards and three scores as a Terrapin.

Now, following several transfers, including that of Amari Niblack, Dippre is the Crimson Tide’s second-leading returning pass catcher and leading returning tight end after posting 11 receptions for 187 yards over 14 games, 11 of those being starts, last fall.

Dippre could have ended his time in college following the retirement of Saban. Even so, DeBoer did enough to convince him otherwise about another season at Alabama.