Kalen DeBoer explains how he will handle load management with expanded playoff

If Kalen DeBoer is going to keep the same high standard at Alabama this season, competing for a national championship is the expectation. A few more games will be required to get there, though. If you include an SEC championship game, the Crimson Tide could play as many as 17 games before ultimately hoisting the CFP trophy.

Coaches around college football will have to preserve their players in what could be an expanded season. DeBoer has already begun thinking about it, saying Alabama is making sure players are getting enough sleep before heading into fall camp.

Something that will not necessarily affect how they play in late December but DeBoer wants to get into the routine early on.

“I think it’s always been something that I’ve been conscious of,” DeBoer said at SEC Spring Meetings. “You know, we’re, for example, moving to being a morning practice team. I think over the course of months, you’re conscious about the amount of sleep guys are getting.

“That’s not even getting to the part that I think you’re referring to with the amount of contacts and hits and games that guys are playing. You want to be playing your best ball at the end of the year. You want to be fresh, both mentally and physically.”

DeBoer knows at some point, Alabama will have to shift its mentality. One method is not going to work for the next six-plus months. Being able to adapt at certain points of the season could be what separates a couple of wins in the College Football Playoff from ultimately being national champions.

“You have to be prepared for those games throughout the season, which takes a lot of work, takes a lot of time,” DeBoer said. “From the summer workouts and through the fall camp, tying that into school, and everything they have on their plate, that’s a lot.

“So we want to make sure that we’re always consciously communicating, working with our team to adjust and do what’s needed to make sure we’re playing our best ball at the end of the season, but making sure we also have that possibility or have done a good job throughout the year to put ourselves in the spot to be in the playoffs in the postseason.”

Alabama’s season will start on Aug. 31, with Western Kentucky coming to town. If everything goes how they want, the Crimson Tide will watch confetti fall from the sky on Jan. 20 in Atlanta. Nearly five months of football are required and DeBoer is already preparing.