JD PicKell addresses questions surrounding Kalen DeBoer, Alabama entering 2024
Alabama is one of the toughest teams to gauge heading into the 2024 college football season following the departure of legendary head coach Nick Saban and several impact players departing from the program. But most evaluators have the Crimson Tide comfortably sitting in the Top 10 of their preseason polls.
On3’s JD PicKell has Alabama tabbed at No. 6 in his Preseason Top 25, recently explaining why he has confidence in the Crimson Tide and their new head coach on The Hard Count.
“Alabama has a lot of newness, similar to Michigan. Now new does not equal bad, some places new equals bad. It does not equal bad at Alabama,” PicKell said. “New head coach, Kalen DeBoer, 104-12 as a head coach. Honestly y’all, it’d be more surprising if he didn’t have success in Tuscaloosa given his track record.”
DeBoer’s record as a head coach is strong as he takes over the reins at Alabama. But now he faces the SEC following previous stints at the NAIA level, the Mountain West, and the Pac-12 as a head coach.
Regardless, PicKell believes that DeBoer has figured out a formula to winning football games at every level that will translate to college football’s premier conference. Also brining elite offensive acumen with him to Tuscaloosa.
“Say what you want about the actual play caller, this is Kalen DeBoer’s offense. To put it simply, I think Kalen DeBoer is well versed in two things. One is messing with the defense pre snap, getting the looks he wants to have an explosive play. The other part of that is maximizing his players, maximizing his ability in house by playing with their strengths,” PicKell explained.
“Kalen DeBoer is not going to try and fit a round peg in a square hole. Like he’s going to play to Jalen Milroe‘s skill set as the quarterback of Alabama, you’re already hearing that if you have a membership Bama Online.”
Milroe returns as Alabama’s starting quarterback after establishing himself as one of college football’s premiere dual-threat weapons. Throwing for 2,718 yards and 23 touchdowns along with 468 yards on the ground and 12 rushing scores. Leaving PicKell confident that DeBoer will set him up for success through creating space for him to operate at a high level in Alabama’s new look offense.
“Now defensively, here’s the question. Up front, they feel good about what they have in that front seven. The secondary though, a lot of youth, a lot of young bucks,” PicKell said. “Two things to give you encouragement if you’re Alabama fan. One, there is still a lot of talent in that youth. There’s still a lot of dudes with four and five stars next to their name. That’s one part of it.”
“The other part of it, Kane Wommack defensively is going to have a scheme that I think will cater more to instincts than it does complexity of the scheme. He’s going to let these dudes know their assignment … He’s gonna let him go play football.”
Alabama’s defense was a perennial powerhouse under Saban, a high and challenging standard for their new defensive coordinator Wommack to uphold.
But on both sides of the ball the talent Alabama possesses paired with a coaching staff that can get the most out of that talent and set them up for success should give Alabama fans confidence that they may not skip a beat this upcoming season.