Kalen DeBoer explains Why Alabama Fired OL Coach Chris Kapilovic

MOBILE, Ala. - Earlier in January, the Alabama Crimson Tide made a change along its coaching staff, letting offensive line coach Chris Kapilovic go after two seasons with the Crimson Tide. On Monday, Alabama hired his replacement, with former SMU, UCLA, and Oregon offensive line coach Adrian Klemm being hired as the Crimson Tide's next offensive line coach. Klemm also has experience with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New England Patriots in the NFL before spending 2025 as an offensive assistant for the USC Trojans.

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"It’s about production, and we want to, we know we got to be better there," Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer said on Wednesday during Senior Bowl practice. "Mindset and just execution, the details of the fundamentals, the guys need. So a lot of new faces that are going to be in that room. So kind of a fresh start there.

"It became apparent to me what direction I was probably looking to go to as the week went on," DeBoer said about the Tide moving on from Kapilovic.

The Crimson Tide didn't only make a change to the coaching staff in the offensive line room, but it will also have almost a completely new roster, with Michael Carroll and William Sanders as the only two returning players who played significant snaps along the offensive line last season. Alabama brought in six new offensive linemen via the transfer portal and five new offensive linemen via the 2026 recruiting class. In total, 11 of Alabama's current 16 offensive linemen on the roster did not play for the Crimson Tide in 2025.

"We needed some guys that could step in with five guys graduating, not all of them obviously were starters, a couple of guys that are leaving for the NFL with Parker [Brailsford] and [Kadyn Proctor]. And so we needed the numbers, but we also needed the quality to go put out there on the football field oﬀensive line, so that was a heavy focus," DeBoer said on Alabama targeting several offensive linemen in the transfer portal.

Wyatt Fulton is the Tide 100.9 DME and Brand Manager, primarily covering Alabama Crimson Tide football and men's basketball. For more Crimson Tide coverage, follow Wyatt on X (Formerly known as Twitter) at @FultonW_.