Alabama Crimson Tide News: Fall Camp updates, 2028 recruiting, Coleman upgrade

Alabama Crimson Tide news and notes from Monday and Tuesday, August 10th and 11th.

2 Alabama sophomores making a push in fall camp

The first scrimmage of fall camp is on Thursday, and that will be a pivotal day in the QB competition along with the other position battles up for grabs. Two Alabama sophomores have been standouts in fall camp and could be pushing for big roles.

Sophomore guard Mal Waldrep has been first up at left guard in all the drills the media has been able to see in practices so far. He's competing with junior Will Sanders for the job. Many assumed it was Sanders' job to lose, but after he missed the spring and time in the summer recovering from an injury, he appears to have ground to make up.

Waldrep is "ahead of schedule" and looks to have a really good shot to be one of the starters up front for the Crimson Tide.

Perhaps more exciting for Alabama fans is the buzz coming out of fall camp for sophomore RB AK Dear. While there was hope he could make an impact as a freshman, he took some time to adjust to the college game last season. Now, he looks to have a shot at a big role in the Tide's offense in year two.

Offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb praised Dear on Monday, saying he's "come a long way." Daniel Hill looks to have the RB1 spot locked down, but Dear has positioned himself for the RB2 spot at this point,

Kane Wommack praises a sophomore LB and Alabama's defensive versatility

Another sophomore pushing for a significant role is LB Luke Metz. He's competing for the "Stinger" role in the Crimson Tide's defense with junior QB Reese. Reese has been running with the first team in drills, but the competition isn't over yet. And even if Reese wins the job, Kane Wommack has frequently played three off-ball linebackers for significant snaps.

Wommack praised Metz on Tuesday for his passion, energy, and physicality.

Wommack also discussed Alabama's versatility on defense, particularly on the defensive front. The Crimson Tide has quite a few interchangeable players up front, guys like Yhonzae Pierre who could take snaps at Wolf LB and Bandit DE, and Devan Thompkins who can play Bandit and then shift inside to the 3-technique DT spot. That kind of versatility will allow Wommack to get creative in his play-calling.

Kalen DeBoer and Alabama are in the lead for a 5-star DL in 2028

Alabama has gotten off to a hot start in the 2028 recruiting class, holding the No. 1-ranked class in the composite rankings. While there's a long way to go between now and the early signing period next December, the strong start shows how much of a priority that recruiting cycle is for DeBoer and his coaching staff.

They got more good news earlier this week when 5-star DL Tyzon Swann, a Top 10 overall player in the 2028 cycle. He told Blake Byler of Bama OnLine that Alabama had the lead in his recruitment.

Swann is coming off a dominant sophomore season that included 50 tackles for loss and 16 sacks. He would be the highest-ranked defensive lineman DeBoer has signed if Alabama can close the deal.

Greg Byrne announces a new video board in Coleman Coliseum

While it doesn't fix the biggest issue with Coleman Coliseum, Crimson Tide AD Greg Byrne announced this week that Alabama would be upgrading the video board and sound system in Coleman Coliseum:

Based on what Byrne said, it would appear the video board is capable of being moved to a potential new arena down the road, whenever that might happen.

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