Happy Gump Day, everyone. Alabama football players are excited to have an actual spring scrimmage again.
“It’s always great to be in Bryant-Denny,” Alabama offensive tackle Jackson Lloyd said after Tuesday’s practice. “Looking forward to getting back out there and getting some fans to fill the stadium. It’s going to be a fun time, so I’m excited for it.”
Lloyd is a true sophomore, so he has never gotten to experience a traditional A-Day scrimmage before unlike junior defensive back Red Morgan.
“It’s
very exciting because we don’t get too many scrimmages,” Morgan said. “Just going out there and being able so showcase in front of everybody, in front of the fans really what we can do. I feel like that’s exciting.”
You will have to make the pilgrimage to Tuscaloosa to see it, however, as it won’t be televised anywhere.
A couple of practice notes:
— Daniel Hill was the first running back to go through at least one drill for Alabama. He was followed by, in order, Kevin Riley, AK Dear, Khalifa Keith, Trae’Shawn Brown, Fredrick Moore and Jessie Washington III.
— Freshman running back EJ Crowell, who has missed most of spring practice, was not participating. Tight end Danny Lewis Jr. was not practicing either.
— Alabama’s quarterbacks mostly rotated, and the drills did not give a real look at who might be where on the depth chart.
One quarterback will have to be the first one to take the field on Saturday for A-Day, but Alabama was not giving any hints on who that might be during practice. During the periods the media could see, the quarterbacks were always throwing in groups of three. Austin Mack and Keelon Russell were always part of the first group, and the freshmen QBs Tayden Evan-Kaawa and Jett Thomalla rotated in with that group.
During the drills where all three were throwing at the same time, the quarterbacks first worked on shorter routes like slants on different parts of the field. They then worked on deep routes to all segments of the field.
Based on the groupings of wide receives, it seems pretty clear that Ryan Coleman-Williams, Lotzeir Brooks and NC State transfer Noah Rogers will be Alabama’s starters at receiver with Rico Scott, Derek Meadows and Cederian Morgan also in the mix.
It will be a shock if Austin Mack isn’t the first QB on the field, if the competition is as close as everyone thinks. Seniority becomes the tiebreaker in that scenario, but the battle will continue throughout the fall.
New WR coach Derrick Nix has one main priority: getting Ryan Coleman-Williams to his max potential.
Nix saw strengths: the speed, the explosion, the ability to win in man coverage and the ability to get open in zone, the clear football knowledge and an expert ability to retain coverages and route structures.
“Just a playmaker,” Nix said. “A guy, when the ball is in his arm, he’s liable to turn a 5-yard play into an explosive play. Just being very deadly. You just thought, man, every time he touches the ball, you hold your breath because he can do something with it.”
But there were weaknesses too. In an ideal world, Coleman-Williams catches every pass that comes to him. And a focus this spring has been on the junior receiver “concentrating and looking the football in.”
Those weaknesses have garnered a share of criticism for Coleman-Williams among the Alabama fanbase, criticism that only grew after a sub-par statistical line of 49 catches for 689 receiving yards and four touchdown catches in 2025: well below his 2024 production.
Ken Roberts at the T-News has a rundown of the Tide’s schedule for you, starting with the FSU opener.
For the first time since 1974, Florida State will visit Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa on Sept. 19.
Get ready to experience the Seminole fans doing the “War Chant” and the “Tomahawk Chop” as Florida State meets Alabama for just the seventh time in football.
Alabama leads the series with Florida State, with three wins, two losses and a tie.
The series started in 1965, with Alabama winning 21-0 in Tuscaloosa. The two teams battled to a 37-37 tie at Legion Field in Birmingham in 1967.
Heavily favored Alabama needed a late field goal to beat Florida State by an 8-7 score in 1974.
Returning Alabama players will certainly want to win that one.
Last, a little common sense may prevail where eligibility is concerned.
An NCAA committee next week is expected to explore a new age-based standard for athlete eligibility as part of a proposal that’s been in the works for weeks, but only recently has been socialized with high-level conference and school administrators.
Those with knowledge of the proposal spoke to Yahoo Sports under condition of anonymity.
According to the concept, NCAA athletes would have five full years of eligibility from the time of their 19th birthday or their high school graduation, whichever is earliest. No waiver requests, redshirts or exceptions will be permitted, except for a small group of outliers (those on maternity leave, military service or religious missions).
This makes the most sense. You get five full seasons from your high school graduation date, unless you are older than 19 when you graduate. If this passes, nobody older than 24 will be playing college sports. That’s how it should be.
That’s about it for now. Have a great day.
Roll Tide.
