Kalen DeBoer's First Alabama Spring Game Will Feature New Offense, Old Quarterback

TUSCALOOSA, Alabama - The first day of the rest of their lives as Alabama football fans without Nick Saban is today.

It's a Saturday in Bryant-Denny Stadium. The A-Day spring game is set for 4 p.m. on ESPN.

And Saban, 72, will not be coaching. He will be here as the greatest coaching emeritus of all time, but only watching.

Kalen DeBoer, 49, will try to replace a man who won six national championships at Alabama since 2009 and seven in all, counting one at LSU in the 2003 season. Saban also finished as the national champion runner-up three times and reached the College Football Playoff Final Four eight times out of a possible 10. And he won 11 Southeastern Conference championships - nine at Alabama and two at LSU.

New Alabama football coach Kalen DeBoer makes his spring game debut Saturday afternoon at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa. (Getty Images)

This is just a spring game, but then again there is a huge swath of a Saban legacy to follow there as well, naturally, for the mild- mannered, friendly South Dakotan DeBoer.

In Saban's first spring game as Alabama's coach on April 22, 2007, when Bryant-Denny's capacity was only 92,138, that many showed. Unprepared for the legions of relevancy-starved fans after three losing seasons and two of seven wins or less over the previous seven seasons, stadium officials had to turn away hundreds.

Only 50,000 or so are expected today. So, is Alabama about half a football program of what it was last year under Saban, who came within a touchdown in overtime of reaching one more national championship game last season?

The familiar sight of Nick Saban on the field and in charge during spring games will not happen Saturday. (Getty Images) 

Despite the sinking feeling the Alabama Nation is dealing with in its post-Saban depression, the Crimson Tide offense on paper right now is clearly better than what Saban was dealing with at this time last year.

First of all, offensive coordinator Tommy Rees, 31, is no longer at Alabama, and no longer an offensive coordinator. He is the tight ends coach for the Cleveland Browns, and tight ends coach in college and the NFL is basically an entry level position.

Kalen DeBoer's Offense Will Be Better Than Tommy Rees'

Rees is the man who brought quarterback Tyler Buchner from his previous OC post at Notre Dame to Alabama last April after the spring game. Buchner may be the worst NCAA transfer portal acquisition in Alabama history. He is no longer even a quarterback. Buchner took the NCAA Reverse Transfer Portal back to Notre Dame, but is now a lacrosse midfielder. He started one game at South Florida for Alabama last season and played in two, completing 8 of 19 passes for 61 yards. Had he stayed in the South Florida game for very long, we may have seen one of the biggest upsets in college football history. 

Saban had to settle on Rees after trying to hire Washington offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb away from DeBoer after the 2022 season. DeBoer brought Grubb with him to Alabama, but the Seattle Seahawks hired him away. So DeBoer settled on Nick Sheridan, 38, to be his OC. He was an entry level tight ends coach as well the previous two years at Washington. And DeBoer has co-OC JaMarcus Shephard, who was the pass game coordinator the previous two years at Washington and is 40.

So DeBoer, in truth, is the offensive coordinator, and he has basically been that during his head coaching career. Grubb was a major loss, but Alabama's offense will be better with DeBoer and whoever as OC than it was last year with the defense-oriented Saban and Rees as OC with an untested Jalen Milroe at quarterback and Buchner actually expected by some to be the starter.

Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe (left) chats with Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer before the Alabama-Tennessee basketball game on March 2 in Coleman Coliseum. (Getty Images)

Milroe was up and down last year, but finished strong. By season's end, he was one of the Southeastern Conference's best quarterbacks. As a junior this season, he is the clear No. 1 quarterback entering the spring game. Some said sophomore Ty Simpson would replace him, but they said that last year. Simpson remains a strong No. 2. 

Others said Washington 6-foot-6 transfer Austin Mack, a top quarterback prospect from the class of 2023, would replace Milroe as the starter. That has not happened either. Alabama also has redshirt freshman Dylan Lonergan from Saban's class of 2023.

So, with an offensive minded DeBoer and an experienced Milroe, Alabama looks to be better early this season than it was last year when Saban, Rees and Milroe fell to Texas, 34-24, and barely beat South Florida, 17-3, after Buchner started.

QB Position Overall Better At Alabama Now

DeBoer is at least talking a good game. Naturally, he likes all four of his quarterbacks.

"Just the number of quarterbacks that we have that you would feel comfortable putting out in a football game," he said Thursday. "I mean, really all four of them."

And that is four more than than the number of quarterbacks Saban felt comfortable putting out there early last season.

"And they are extremely solid," DeBoer said. "They're doing a great job with accuracy, their reads, competitiveness, just picking things up each and every day. That group has done a really good job from - I don't want to say from top to bottom, just across the board."

DeBoer, obviously with Grubb, did a magnificent job in developing Michael Penix Jr. into a likely top 10 or 15 first round NFL Draft pick on April 25.

Then-Washington coach Kalen DeBoer talks to quarterback Michael Penix Jr. before the Huskies played Michigan in the national championship game last Jan. 8 in Houston. (Getty Images)

Milroe may never be as good as Penix, but he will likely be the best dual threat quarterback in the SEC this season. By the end of the season, Rees did do a good job with Milroe. He finished No. 5 in the nation in passing efficiency at 172.2 on 187-of-284 passing for 2,834 yards and 23 touchdowns with just six interceptions. And he rushed for 531 net yards on 161 carries. He put up all those numbers after being one of the most sacked quarterbacks in college football with 38.

In five straight games last year, opponents sacked Milroe four times or more to tie the longest such streak in 20 years.

If DeBoer can get decent protection from his offensive line, Milroe can help give DeBoer a decent opening season, which would be in the 10-to-12 win range.

Jalen Milroe ‘Tough To Handle’

"He's got that dual skill set," DeBoer said earlier during spring drills. "And now that we have enough things installed where he can utilize all that, you can see the play calling working around what he brings to the table. He's tough to handle. He's just so extremely fast. You think you have him bottled up, and he just runs right around you. He gets more comfortable with the offense every day, especially in the pass game." 

Considering the other talent DeBoer he inherits from Saban, he should do better than Saban did after that 2007 spring game. With mostly previous coach Mike Shula's players from a 6-7 team, Saban finished 7-6 in his first season in 2007 at Alabama with a date at the Independence Bowl in Shreveport.

Alabama may or may not be a national championship contender next season, but it should make the new 12-team playoff. If not, look for a sparse crowd at the 2025 spring game.