How Comfortable is Kalen DeBoer if a Freshman Running Backs Lead the Charge?

Alabama's run game wasn't to the standard in 2025, and Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer knows it, telling Greg McElroy on his podcast, Always College Football, that he still believes you need to be physical to win a national championship.

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"I really do believe that you don't win championships without a physical nature to your program," DeBoer told McElroy. "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."

Alabama addressed the offensive line with 11 new players and a new position coach, but the running back room saw significantly less turnover, with Jam Miller departing for the NFL, and the Crimson Tide added EJ Crowell and Trae'Shawn Brown via the recruiting class and Khalifa Keith via the transfer portal. Alabama retained three of its top four running backs last season in Daniel Hill, Kevin Riley, and AK Dear.

Crowell's arrival was highly anticipated. The Jackson, Alabama, native rushed for 2,632 yards and 35 touchdowns during his final season of high school football. He finished as a five-star after reclassifying to the 2026 recruiting class, joining Alabama in January for spring practice. He missed most of spring with a right calf soft tissue injury, but head coach Kalen DeBoer isn't worried about rolling with a true freshman in the backfield.

"Just take EJ or take our situation out of it, I've had that happen," DeBoer told McElroy on Always College Football. "I've been very successful; I think our system allows that. It'd be easier - now back to our situation - if EJ had been practicing all spring long.

"It's knowing your job - much like we talked about with the offensive line - it's doing your job, but it's also doing it along with everyone else. Trusting the offensive line when there's a pressure - who's gonna take this guy and having those reps, banked reps, and done it so many times where it's just - you can't do it wrong. It's always gonna be done right. And again, a lot of times, that's not just you doing your job and being confident in yourself, it's you being confident in everyone else and having seen that take place where you're picking up a blitz over and over.

"I think the raw instincts of EJ - as you're kind of alluding to - from what we've seen, whether it's high school film or just a few snaps he took at the beginning of spring ball - there's a high ceiling for him. He can run well, you know, that comes out through the winter workouts. I think there's football instincts and things like that."

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_.