As usual, we got our round up of interviews from the Alabama coaching staff at the start of the game week.
Ryan Grubb
“There’s a lot of factors that go into it. I did it a few times at Fresno. Some of it has to do with comfort level with two parts. Number one, the people that you have in the box as far as eyes in the sky, and then also where you’re at with the guys on the sideline. So I tend to focus more on the positive part, meaning the guys that are in the box for us, Tyler Hughes and Mitch Dahlen, are as good
as it gets. Those guys both have been in our system for a number of years. So whatever information I need to collect that I don’t think I have a good enough vantage point on, I normally get accurate information from those guys. So I have a lot of confidence with that and I felt like, just again, the collaboration on the field, the in-game adjustments can happen quicker for me and the rest of the guys.”
A lot of the presser this time around was focused on Grubb’s change from coaching up from the skybox to down on the field last week. Judging by his answers, I’m going to guess we see him on the field again against Auburn. Personally, I’ve never had a big preference, though I know many fans have made it clear they prefer the coordinators on the sidelines. As long as the calls get communicated on time, I’m fine either way.
Kane Wommack
“I think we’ve done a nice job of building depth throughout the season in our defense. And I think when you look at it nowadays, like, you’re going to have players that are operating in critical moments in the game that you likely didn’t need or didn’t put on the field at the beginning of the season. And so, you know, just, you think about even a guy like Yhonzae Pierre. Yhonzae has been playing for us, but he’s just continually gotten better, and then when we had injuries, he stepped up into a role that he’s operating at a really, really high level. But there’s a number of guys that you can point towards in our secondary and our linebacking core and certainly up from the defensive line. I think Freddie’s [Roach] done a really nice job in terms of the development of some of our young defensive linemen that are playing a lot more consistent than where they were at the beginning of the season. And so those are things that when you think about potentially playing more games that we’ve ever played in the history of Alabama football this season, you know, hopefully, you’re going to need that depth and it’s going to show up here in the back half of the season. And to this point, that has been the case, and I would anticipate it moving forward.”
Wommack didn’t give us too much this time around, but I always like when he talks about his approach to building depth on a roster by playing guys early on. It’s something that has caused consternation early in the season but led to a fantastic close for Alabama’s defense the last two years.
Kalen DeBoer
What he’s seen from Kaleb Edwards, advice to freshmen heading into first Iron Bowl…
“There’s been so many snaps that these guys played— Dijon, Lotzeir, I mean we can go down the row, Michael Carroll. I think that’s what you’re getting to here with the question is we’ve done that all year long. Really, Kaleb, I can think of the big catch in a moment for me, he caught a crossing route against Georgia in a tight window there. Number one, Ty’s trusting him, and then Kaleb going across really fearless. Kaleb was a guy that didn’t come to us until really this summer. Most of our guys early enrolled. Seeing him be able to get on the field early in the year and do what he’s doing, again, every rep matters to him because these guys that have been all year going back to January, they understood our culture, they were part of our weight program. I’m just really proud of these guys. Not just now, but it sheds light on what we feel about what the future’s going to be whether it’s your quarterbacks— they got a chance to be out on the football field and do their thing. Our offensive linemen, Jackson Lloyd got the chance to go out there and do his thing as well. Just really excited about the future. Obviously, we’re in the moment, we’re in the present, and those guys are going to be ready to play. They’ve made a ton of plays all season long, and we’re confident. We wouldn’t put them out there if we weren’t.”
Like the coordinators, DeBoer seemed a little more light on actual info this week. Calling out Kaleb Edwards was cool though, as he’s a guy we were all high on during the recruiting season and it’s been cool seeing him become more and more important this season. And with Josh Cuevas likely out this week with injury, Edwards is going to have his biggest role yet.
DeBoer also gave us the most DeBoer answer of all time when the reporters asked him about his favorite Thanksgiving food:
“Yeah, I’m pretty traditional when it comes to the Thanksgiving piece, going way back, so you’re normal stuff. Thanksgiving when you think about it, that’s what I’m all about.”
Seriously, have you ever seen a man that is more allergic to getting off a fence in a press conference than DeBoer?
In some unfortunate news, Alabama lost a recruiting commit for the 2026 class:
Off the football field, Alabama suffered a loss on the recruiting trail on Monday, with Hayes Fawcett of On3 Sports/Rivals reporting that four-star offensive lineman Samuel Utu has de-committed from the Crimson Tide’s 2026 recruiting class.
Utu, a 6-foot-5, 330-pound offensive tackle from Orange Lutheran High School in Orange, California, had been committed to the Crimson Tide since June 9, just three days after his official visit to Tuscaloosa. Utu had visited Alabama twice during his recruitment, taking an unofficial visit on March 22 and his previously mentioned official visit on June 6.
The message boards have all been saying this one was coming for a few weeks, but there’s not too much info out there. Most of the speculation is around him wanting a clearer path to playing time, but who knows for sure.
Alabama still has a trio of offensive linemen in this recruiting class, but will likely still be looking for one more.
Well, Auburn picked their QB for the Iron Bowl:
Both of those players could be utilized to help the Tigers win the Iron Bowl this Saturday, but interim coach DJ Durkin said at his Monday press conference that veteran Ashton Daniels, as expected, will return to the starting role.
Daniels sat out last week against Mercer in a mutual decision from him and the coaching staff to preserve his redshirt, seeing as the Alabama matchup will only be his fourth game of the season. So star-studded freshman Deuce Knight was turned loose, and all he did was tie an Auburn record with six total touchdowns in the 62-17 win.
So could Knight see some work against the Crimson Tide, potentially with some packages in the offense? He did score two rushing touchdowns on designed quarterback runs in the red zone, after all.
“That’s a great idea,” Durkin joked at his Monday press conference. “I’ll take that back upstairs (to the coaches) and see if we can get that done.”
All of Auburn’s QBs present similar skillsets, so from a schematic perspective, it probably doesn’t matter too much. Sill, I suppose it’s good to know. But I also wouldn’t count out any changeups mid-game.
Next, in the daily coaching circus, we got another fantastic rambling from Lane Kiffin that absolutely is not giving Ole Miss fans any confidence:
Then today, at his weekly presser, Kiffin continued to dodge questions about his future plans, but as far as his those plans becoming a distraction, he insists this generation is wired differently and that’s not a factor in the same way it was for previous teams.
“I’ve said it before, but it’s a different generation, guys, it’s different than what we were in when players couldn’t leave, and players chose to go and play for their own state a lot and all that, but this is a different generation.”
“They all can leave every year, and a lot of that is financially based, so they don’t think the traditional way in terms of their coach and what is going to go on with him next year, that’s just not how they think anymore.”
“That makes it a lot easier not to listen to the noise, because as a fan that noise is really loud because that’s your team and it’s been your team for a long time. These kids don’t think that way.”
“It’s just a product of the system.”
It’s hard to read that and not think Lane has his made up his mind that he’s leaving, and that answer serves as both justification for his approach the last two weeks, as well as an quiet reminder to players that they can join him at his next stop and there’s nothing tying them there like the rules that governed previous generations.
Good ole Lane, keeping things fun for everyone not actually involved.
Finally, LSU is also going to keep dealing with the Brian Kelly headache for the foreseeable future.
“As you know, there is absolutely no basis to LSU’s contrived positions that Coach Kelly was not terminated or that cause existed for such termination,” Kelly’s lawyers wrote in the letter obtained by ESPN.com. “LSU’s conduct, including its failure to confirm that Coach Kelly was terminated without cause and its unsupported allegations of misconduct on the part of Coach Kelly, has made it nearly impossible for Coach Kelly to secure other football-related employment. . . . LSU’s conduct continues to harm Coach Kelly, particularly during this critical hiring period.”
It appears that LSU is slow-playing the situation in the hopes that Kelly will accept a reduced buyout in order to get his freedom. At some point, however, LSU needs to do something. He’s no longer coaching the team. He’s essentially been fired. They’ve reportedly offered him far less than what he’s owed. The urgency to shake free from LSU could, in theory, compel him to blink.
He’s not blinking. Kelly has already filed a lawsuit, seeking a judicial declaration that he has been fired without cause.
This just keeps getting better and better, and I think LSU is going to come out the loser in this standoff.
That’s all for today. Roll Tide!
