Predicting how current Alabama players will approach the transfer portal
Alabama had to put a coach and staff in place quickly following the retirement of Nick Saban in order to keep their roster intact. Now that they have, BamaOnline’s Tim Watts shared how he expects the process to play out next.
Watts spoke about his prediction for how Alabama’s remaining will look at the portal on ‘Andy Staples On3’ on Monday. He said that much of it at this point is going to come down to connection between individual people on the team and if their respective position coaches are still in place.
“Now, if you’re a running back and Robert Gillespie stays? I think it’s a little bit easier,” said Watts.
“If you’re at a position where your position coach, if you look at the defense, Kevin Steele was already gone, Coleman Hutzler was already gone. T-Rob is expected to leave for Georgia, nobody has even mentioned Robert Bala. So, if you’re a defensive guy, you’ve lost most of the guys you know,” Watts continued. “Keeping Freddie Roach is going to be huge there because he has got some kind of relationship with those guys and he has got a lot of areas in the South as well.”
Relationships are the key word for Watts when it comes to the Crimson Tide roster moving forward. In his opinion, most of them are already considering their options anyways. It’s just that, if they can keep most of those links together, the new staff will do their best in looking like an option that’s still very attractive.
“I think, to some degree, the vast majority of the roster is going to look at the portal, look at their options,” said Watts. “That’s kind of what I would expect.
“I think you have to consider your options,” Watts continued. “I just look at it like what I’d tell my son or what I’d do. Look at your options, talk to your coach, see how you feel. You might love him, you might hate him, you might want to do this, you might want to do that. Figure it out, maybe take visits, or just lock it down.”
Kalen DeBoer has had a whirlwind of a week in taking the job in Tuscaloosa and then immediately getting to work on maintaining his new team at Alabama. It was vital, though, as the decisions regarding his hire and staff had relations with what kind of team that the Tide would have to work with next fall.
“Relationships are going to matter in those situations,” Watts said. “It’s important to keep them all because if they keep the rest of their guys on the roster? It’s a top-three roster in the country talent-wise.”