Amid plenty of discontent in the fanbase and questions nationally about his long-term viability as Alabama's head coach, Kalen DeBoer has quietly been making some major changes for the Crimson Tide this offseason.
Along with signing arguably the best high school RB in the country in 5-star EJ Crowell, DeBoer completely flipped the offensive line room with 11 new players coming in via the high school class and Transfer Portal, and hired a new OL and TE coach to try and bring a physicality to the running game that was severely lacking last season.
If his actions weren't loud enough on their own, his words have been spoken loudly, too.
In an interview with former Alabama QB Greg McElroy on Wednesday via the Always College Football podcast, DeBoer said the magic words that Alabama fans have been waiting for throughout his tenure:
"I really do believe that you don't win championships without a physical nature to your program," DeBoer said. "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."
Kalen DeBoer is trying to strike the perfect balance for his Alabama offense
DeBoer is confident he can get the ship righted for the Tide running the football. He doesn't have much of a choice. Last season's effort was embarrassing, arguably the poorest rushing performance in school history. Alabama finished 132nd out of 136 FBS programs in rushing success rate during the 2025 season.
While an increased physicality and an improved running game are paramount to Alabama's success, he's also not going to turn away from what has worked for him in the past with a high-octane passing game, either. Especially not with the talent Alabama has accumulated in its QB room and at WR.
"I'm not gonna take away from what we were at Washington and the ability to throw the ball," DeBoer said. "What we were last year with Ty 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 3rd- or 4th-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."
It's not just offensively. There's a reason Alabama ponied up and landed a couple of major difference-makers on the defensive line in the Transfer Portal with USC's Devan Thompkins and Oregon's Terrance Green.
Alabama needed to get more physical on the line of scrimmage on both sides of the football. That was obvious to everyone watching. It's encouraging that DeBoer and the coaching staff obviously saw it, too, and took steps to correct it.
Whether all the moves made this offseason will pay off or not remains to be seen. That will be found out by the results on the field. But it's clear that DeBoer wasn't sitting on his hands this offseason.
He clearly understands what has to happen for Alabama to get back into national title contention.
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