Everything Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer said at 2026 SEC spring meetings

Alabama head football coach Kalen DeBoer was in Miramar Beach, Florida, on Tuesday for the start of the SEC’s spring meetings. He spoke to reporters for roughly 15 minutes and touched on a variety of topics. Below is everything DeBoer said while at the Hilton Sandestin.

DeBoer’s opening statement…

“Good morning. Hope you guys are all having a good summer. It’s crazy how quick time flies. But the important month ahead here for us in a lot of ways. Big recruiting month. Official visits starting this weekend, not just for us, but I know an entire country. Got the team starting workouts here. They’re back from a short break here in May, and they hit the ground running. A lot of guys do stick around even when they could get away. So, really pleased with the mindset that we’ve developed, continue to grow amongst this team here this season. And then just getting the opportunity to continue to develop these guys. We’ve got meetings and workouts that we can work with them on. So, big month there, and then the season will be around the corner. 

“But just really proud of our staff. We brought in a number of transfers. And I think just finding the right guys, first of all, and helping them really build into our environment. These guys have adjusted well, our transfers adjusted well. And I think now, they’re almost even being empowered to become leaders along with the guys that continue to lead the charge that have been in the program for at least a year, two years. We have really only nine seniors this year on our football team, but we do have a big group of guys that have two years left. I’m not gonna say juniors, but guys that have two years left. And so, then there’s around 19 players kind of in that category and close to 25 that have been on the football field for us in some capacity that have three years left. So, a lot of experience returning, feel good about that. We’re not necessarily an old team, but we have a lot of guys that have taken valuable snaps that are looking forward to taking that next step. 

“I think just when it comes to recruiting, kind of going back to that, really looking forward to build on what we’ve done. These young guys that I’m referring to in the first two classes, they’ve kind of stayed the course and believe in what we’re doing, what we’re building. And we gotta find the next group. There won’t be a big group this fall. I think it will be much less than what we’ve had the last two seasons, but a lot of that’s because we have retained well. And again, brought in a group of transfers and don’t have many seniors.”

DeBoer on reaching the SEC Championship Game vs. the possible attrition that comes with it…

“The attrition in which way?” (Injuries.) “Injury, OK, that’s what I thought. For me, this is a personal thing, it was really important for me. And I know we fell a little short in that conference championship, but it was important for me being my first SEC championship opportunity, having only been in the league going on the second year at the time. I think that our team really felt strong about winning it when you’re in that moment. I think looking back on it, there are some things that were just a struggle when you look at kind of where the team was at physically, whether it was before or after. But that’s part of it. 

“Our opponent, Georgia, had the same situation. They did a better job, obviously, of being ready for that game, however you wanna put it. But we’re gonna learn from that. We’re gonna continue to do everything we can and be better because of it. So, it’s an experience, and I think a lot of what we’re trying to do as we grow our program, at least, when I say grow, I’m talking about in the last two, three years, just to build up. We gotta have experiences together. I think you can always talk about what other teams went through or what this program’s done. But until you’ve been in the fight together and you have those experiences that you can draw on, good and bad, that’s really what we can remember, and what we can learn from. And I’m looking forward to that. 

“We, last year, talked a lot about the season before and how we came up short. We weren’t great in critical moments. And we were towards the bottom of the league in penalties. And turnovers cost us in 2024 in the games we lost. And it was a big discrepancy between when we won and we lost the turnover margin. Last year, we kind of righted the ship in those areas. And so, we gotta continue to make sure our strengths are our strengths, and we gotta continue to take care of the weaknesses that showed up last year anytime throughout the season. And again, it’s a new group of guys this year, so you really start all over. You started over in January because the 40-plus guys, whether they’re freshmen or transfers that were in the meeting room, the guys that were in workouts, they weren’t part of that experience. But you quickly get them understanding what it’s gonna take to take those next steps here in our program.”

DeBoer on how he managed to get two quarterbacks to stay and actually compete…

“I think that’s a great question. I think I would give credit to both of those two, that Keelon and Austin are two guys that are competitive. They’re two guys that really feel like there’s, well, they have a belief in themself, and each of them feeling that they can go win the job, and that they can do what it takes to win here at Alabama. But I also would say that I think there’s an environment in that room, because last year with Ty being involved, I mean, there was three guys competing. We continue to bring in more guys that wanna be a part of it. Why do they wanna be a part of it? They wanna be a part of our program, of course. They wanna be a part of our offensive system. 

“But I think Ryan Grubb and now Bryan Ellis being in that room as the quarterback’s coach, and I’ll give Nick Sheridan some credit, too, for keeping those guys around. And kind of Bryan’s now bridged the gap there as the new quarterbacks coach. But I think it’s just what does it look like? And you’re giving them opportunities, you’re challenging them. They feel like they’re getting better and reaching their potential, and you’re giving them everything you got. And so, they love their teammates. Their teammates love them back because they do stay, and they place priority on the most important things. And that’s just being the best, bringing a great attitude and effort every single day.”

DeBoer on what’s the right size for the College Football Playoff…

“I mean, I’ve heard the arguments from obviously 12. I know 12, 16, and 24 seem to be the most popular, right? So, I mean, I can make an argument for all of them. I know for me, it’s really not about a number. It’s about just trying to win every football game, so you don’t have to put it in a committee’s hands, and that’s our goal as a program at Alabama.”

DeBoer on what does increasing physicality look like in Year 3 at Alabama…

“Well, I think there’s times when we were extremely physical. I think what you kind of get tied into is the run game probably, right? And there’s the inability at important times and consistently to be able to run the football. And so, I think there’s more than physicality because I think there’s some very physical individuals on our football team. I think we have a team full of them, honestly. I think there’s an execution piece that has to take place. And that involves everyone from the offensive line to the tight ends and running backs, receivers doing their job, and knowledge, right? There’s knowledge to execute. A running back needs to know who’s the unblocked defender, who’s the guy he’s gotta beat to get an explosive play. And so, I think there’s a toughness, whether it’s mental or physical, that is in our program. 

“We made the playoffs, so we gotta look at the things that we did. We made the playoffs and won seven of eight SEC football games, went to a conference championship, and won a playoff game. And so, those things don’t happen if you’re not a tough football team in some regard. Now, we fell short of our goal, and so, we understand there is more for us to accomplish when it comes to all those areas, whether it comes to the physicality or the execution. We’re working on chemistry right now with so many new faces compared to what we had a year ago. 

“So, I see our guys work every single day, and so, I know they’re strong. I know they want it. I know there’s a toughness about them. There’s a grit about them. Last year’s guys, I’d go to battle with those guys because of who they were every single time I possibly could, and we’re developing that with this team right now.”

DeBoer on what agenda/issues does he want to push the most in the meeting room…

“Well, I think all the topics are what they are. I think just having some clarity. To me, when it comes to the playoffs and the number, it’s about making sure that the best teams are in the playoff. So, are the 12 best teams in the playoff, or the 16, the 24? Are those best teams in there? I mean, that’s really, in all fairness, as a competitor, that’s what you want. It’s just, are the 12 best teams in there? If we can’t get the 12, we’ve got to go to 16, whatever it might be. The scheduling piece and 9-game schedule, I mean, that’s kind of done. And so, how does that play in? I don’t think there’s a way to understand because there’s not some secret formula. We know that there’s gonna be less games out of conference, which is gonna make it harder to understand the strength of schedule that we all have, whether it’s the SEC or other conferences. And so, those are the things that I can’t sit here and dwell on. I just gotta do what I gotta do with my football team, and that’s help us win every single game to make sure it doesn’t come down to a committee making a decision.”

DeBoer on why Alabama kept the Ohio State series on the schedule…

“Well, I think the Oklahoma State game was the one that just, with the addition of, there had to be a game that we had to move on from. And I think both of our universities saw that kind of just looking into the future and what was best for our programs. I think we mutually just saw that as an easy opportunity to kind of get our schedules where they needed to be. And so, yeah, I mean, everything we’re doing right now, we’re planning on playing that game a year from now.”

DeBoer on if there is a part of the current calendar that he would most want to change…

“I guess it all connects, right? And so, yeah, you’d love to move the championship games at the end of the season up earlier to help with the portal timing and the academic calendar. It’s all the things that you know that we discuss that you’d love to change. But I understand the challenges with it. You want the academic calendar to align with the season as much as possible. It carries over into our second semester. And so, we had official visits happening. We already started our second semester there in January. We start school a little earlier in January than most. And so, every situation, every school has a little different challenge.

“I don’t mind having the OTA model that is being thrown out there. I’m open to that. I think we have to evolve, and I think there’s always better ways to do things. And I’m certainly open to that, and we’ll adjust as we decide on what’s best. I think there’s some very smart people out there that have good ideas that you gotta be open to, and I’m certainly open to all of them.”

DeBoer on if he feels like he’s been at Alabama for 10 years with all the pressure…

“(Laughs) You know what, it has gone fast. But there’s been a lot that has happened, I think, to speak to your question. I’ve enjoyed the journey, and how far we’ve come, and the challenges that are in front of us. And just, when you have great people around you, and I feel like I have that with our staff, just continue to add. And yeah, there’s people that move on. And we had some coaches that got great opportunities. I’m excited about an Adrian Klemm, working with our offensive line, a Rich Owens, and Derrick Nix working with our receivers. Rich working with our tight ends. I got great people around me. And so, when you’re in the building and you’re with the players and you’re doing what you love to do, and that’s coach football and bring people together, and on Saturdays, go out there and just be in stadiums that have 100,000 people. That’s what we signed up for, and that’s what you love to do. And so, in that regard, it’s gone really fast. It’s hard to believe it’s Year 3.”

DeBoer on what Isaiah Horton brought to the program…

“He was a big receiver, big catch radius, long. So, he caught those balls in some pockets, and it was good in the red zone.” 

DeBoer on if things have gotten more complex than he could have imagined…

“It’s not because of the league. I don’t think that’s what you’re saying. But it’s certainly, there’s more time spent away from football and coaching football. And so, that’s, again, where you gotta have a great staff around you, and I feel like I have that, and I’m just trying to continue to find ways to be more efficient with those other lines, things that we need to do to take care of, to where, again, you can make sure that, again, the main thing regarding football and what happens on Saturday is that you’re involved to the level you wanna be.”

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