Former Alabama player who quit on the team throws parting shot at Kalen DeBoer

Jehiem Oatis - formerly Jaheim - came to Alabama with considerable promise as part of the 2022 recruiting class. He was ranked as a Top-75 player in the country, but was considerably overweight, listed at 370 pounds by recruiting services.

Oatis came in, worked hard, dropped pounds, and earned early playing time in his first two seasons with the Crimson Tide in Nick Saban's defense. Saban retired following the 2023 season, and a new coaching staff headlined by head coach Kalen DeBoer entered the fold.

Oatis quickly fell out of the DL rotation, partially due to an injury, but mainly due to an odd schematic fit in Kane Wommack's 3-3-5 defensive scheme. Oatis' development had stagnated before then, but he took it as a personal affront that he couldn't really get on the field last season. So much so that he quit on the team following Alabama's loss to Vanderbilt in October in order to preserve a redshirt season and enter the Transfer Portal.

Two months later, Oatis committed to Colorado, and he'll look to return to his freshman form in Boulder. Instead of keeping his head down and just working, however, Oatis decided to throw a parting shot at DeBoer and the coaching staff in an interview with On3 (access to the full article requires an On3 subscription).

Oatis' words reek of sour grapes from a player who wasn't good enough to get on the field

Oatis goes on to complain in the interview about not getting a fair shake at playing time, and accusing the staff of "messing him over."

Of course, what Oatis doesn't mention is that his DL coach didn't change from Saban to DeBoer. Freddie Roach was one of the coaches held over from the previous-to-new coaching staff. Roach was Oatis' DL coach all two-and-a-half years he spent in Tuscaloosa, and obviously has a major stay on which defensive linemen are getting on the field.

It's no secret that there was poison in the Alabama locker room last season. Star WR Ryan Williams admitted to such, as some players struggled with the transition from Saban to DeBoer. That was always bound to happen. Alabama isn't for everybody. Nick Saban wasn't for everybody, and now Kalen DeBoer certainly isn't for everybody.

It's why the roster was flipped so much in the winter Transfer Portal. Gone are the players who refused to buy in and put in the work. In and remaining are players who are totally, singularly focused on bringing a National Championship back to Tuscaloosa.

The buy-in on this roster is high. DeBoer and company navigated the spring Transfer Portal with zero scholarship players leaving, showing the commitment, focus, and tight-knit-edness of this group.

To steal a term popular during the Saban era, players like Oatis needed to get "processed" in order for DeBoer to install his culture.

Oatis is undeniably a talented player. But the work ethic that led to playing time as a freshman seemingly evaporated into his second and then third years on campus. And in a new defensive scheme, the massive nose tackle types like Oatis that Saban preferred, just don't fit in Wommack's scheme. Wommack prefers players who are more nimble and athletic, able to get off the ball and make plays in the backfield.

Oatis could very well go on to a big season at Colorado and parlay that into solid positioning in the 2026 NFL Draft. His decision to leave Alabama was best for both parties. The quicker he realizes that and gets over it, the sooner he can focus on what it's going to take for him to be successful in Boulder.