Kalen DeBoer begins his second season at Alabama with a tone-setting theme common from the end of the 2024 season until the Crimson Tide kick off fall camp in two weeks: Let’s get physical.
“When it comes to just overall as a program, physicality is the name of the game when it comes to playing football. You wear pads for a reason, right? Physicality comes through the work to build your body, but that also comes through toughness mentally as well,” DeBoer said Wednesday morning in Atlanta, the site of SEC Media Days.
“I love, again, the work that we’re focused on right now is the main thing, keeping it that. I love the mindset. Doesn’t guarantee anything but gives you a great chance.”
Talent gives the Crimson Tide a great chance, too.
And while Alabama subtracted three prominent underclassmen to the draft — quarterback Jalen Milroe (Seattle Seahawks), guard Tyler Booker (Dallas Cowboys) and linebacker Jihaad Campbell (Philadelphia Eagles) — and several seniors from DeBoer’s first season on the job in Tuscaloosa, he has a few players ready to pick up the hammer as tone-setters this season.
“The offensive line is where it really starts,” DeBoer said. “Really six guys that are strongly in the rotation with a lot of others that are up-and-coming, developing quickly, that I can see competing for spots as the season goes along as well.”
The featured talent on the line is Kadyn Proctor, an offensive tackle who can block out the sun, who is also on pace to earn his degree in December. NFL draft experts view Proctor as a likely first-round talent in the 2026 draft if he opts to leave. DeBoer said he loves everything about the 6-foot-7, 360-pounder.
“You look at the guy and he’s massive. Man, just does everything on a high level when it comes to his training,” said DeBoer.
Replacing Milroe is a clear focus in fall camp. DeBoer said Ty Simpson “would be the guy that would take the first snaps and be our starter” if Alabama was lining up to play a game right now.
But he kept the door open for Austin Mack, a 6-6, 235-pound redshirt freshman who followed DeBoer from Washington, and true freshman Keelon Russell to shift the depth chart in the next six weeks before Alabama begins the season at Florida State. DeBoer — who also brought in his former offensive coordinator with the Huskies, Ryan Grubb — said Mack and Russell are capable of “big jumps” in fall camp because of the high repetition count.
“But they have the tools. Ty throws a catchable ball. He’s smart. He’s been in college football now going into year four,” DeBoer said. “He’s seen the ups and downs. He’s got great relationships with the team. He’s a leader that way. He’s really owned things on another level.”
There might be even more talent and tenacity on DeBoer’s defense in 2025.
Two fifth-year starters, linebacker Deontae Lawson and defensive tackle Tim Keenan, are geared up to boost the targeting takeaway total from 2024 when Alabama ranked fifth in the nation with 2.1 takeaways per game.
DeBoer expects to take the field with a total of 17 seniors on the roster — up from eight last season — but underscored their importance in maintaining continuity after a year of mass introductions in 2024.
He presented Lawson, returning from a season-ending knee injury in November, as the case in point.
“Probably thought a year ago at this time he’d be wearing an NFL jersey. Circumstances as they may be, just coming back from an injury, seeing him attack it, seeing him and his mindset … understanding the circumstances he can’t control and what he can,” DeBoer said. “Man, it’s just amazing seeing him take over not just the defense but be a leader on our football team.
“I walked into a meeting looking for a coach actually. I walked in. It was (Lawson) holding a meeting with the linebackers. Listened for about 30 seconds. I knew that meeting was in a good position. Coaching it like a coach. When you have guys on the field that are like him — understand the depth, the details — you know you’re headed in the right direction and have a chance.”
–Field Level Media
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