DeBoer Explains What Alabama Needs to Compete for a Title

Alabama had one of the poorest running games in FBS last season, averaging 104.1 yards per game and 3.35 yards per carry. It was the program's worst mark since 1998. However, Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer is leaning on his own experience, believing his system can produce the physical run game Alabama is used to seeing.

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"This is a long time ago, but as a coordinator in 2002, we were maybe the top running team in the country, back at Sioux Falls," DeBoer told Greg McElroy on his Always College Football podcast. "The very next year, we were probably the top passing team in the country. Different quarterback, lost our running back. You work around your personnel."

Alabama's personnel last season dictated that the Crimson Tide throw the ball, with quarterback Ty Simpson throwing for 3,567 yards and 28 touchdowns, leading Alabama to an 11-4 overall record. Alabama dealt with injuries along the offensive line and the running back room, with offensive lineman Jaeden Roberts starting the year banged up, and Jam Miller missing the first three games of the year, dealing with nagging injuries all season long, and missing the SEC championship. Daniel Hill started the season banged up and didn't see meaningful reps until Alabama's midseason victory over Missouri, and Kevin Riley suffered an injury against Eastern Illinois that kept him out until the Rose Bowl.

"I really do believe that you don't win championships without a physical nature to your program," DeBoer continued. "That happens through what you do in practice. That's what we want to become. I know what that looks like. We've done it in multiple places."

In DeBoer's time as a Division I head coach, he's only had one 1,000-yard rusher. In 2023 at Washington, Dillon Johnson rushed for 1,195 yards and 16 touchdowns. However, his offense led the country in passing, averaging 355.8 passing yards per game.

"I'm not gonna take away from what we were at Washington and the ability to throw the ball," he continued to McElroy. "What we were last year with Ty [Simpson] slinging it around to a talented group of receivers. That's dynamic. You want to be as dynamic as you possibly can be, but you do need to have a physical way about you if you want to win the championships. There's gonna be weather games, there's gonna be something where you've got to finish out the games, and it's close. You got to grind away, or you got to get that big stop on a third- or fourth-and-1. Or on the goal line. It presents itself in different ways, offensively and defensively.

"I can't wait to the point where we get back to that being what we truly are. I know our guys are working extremely hard to make sure that any flaws we've had or areas we've come short - that's the staff, that's the players - we are looking to become what we need to be and what we can be."

Alabama's final two losses of the season ended in dominating fashion, with Georgia stifling Alabama's run game and Indiana prevailing over Alabama's run defense. DeBoer and the Crimson Tide are leaning on those experiences as they try to improve on last year's lackluster ground game.

"I'm always gonna first give hats off to the people that did it, and Coach Cignetti did an awesome job of building a team that was just well-rounded across the board - competitive, great schematically, and had a mentality about them," DeBoer said. "We saw that, it's not like we didn't know what it's supposed to look like. I know what it's supposed to look like. I know what it feels like.

"But we also - you can see, now, through those experiences - kind of almost what we were talking about - where we need to improve. That's what we work daily to do is continue to clean up those areas where we fall short.

"To me, it's a lot of execution, especially when it comes to the run game or stopping the run. Gotta have personnel, gotta be on the same page with what you're teaching, and we continue to work extremely hard to make all those areas come together. But you got to give it a tip of the hat. They didn't just do it to us; they did it to a lot of teams throughout the season and even into the playoffs with other teams as well. We know we've got a lot of work ahead of us, but I think you've got to tip the hat to Coach Cignetti and what that program did there."

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_.