Things Alabama football fans should be optimistic about after first week of spring practice

Alabama Defensive Back Keon Sabb (3) during practice Spring Practice at Hank Crisp Indoor Facility in Tuscaloosa, AL on Thursday, Mar 12, 2026 - Photo Via Alabama Athletics

It is that time of year where clips or quotes from spring practice can make or break a fanbase’s hopes and dreams for the 2026 season, but remember, there are always things to be optimistic about. 

Even though Alabama has one week of spring practice under its belt, there are a couple things that the Crimson Tide coaches and players shined light on last week that could ignite the flame of optimism under the seats of Alabama fans ahead of the 2026 season.

Alabama wants one offensive line starting lineup

Last season, the Crimson Tide shuffled eight players around in the starting lineup and hardly stayed with one combination for two weeks.

Based on what head coach Kalen DeBoer said this past week when responding to a question about versatility up front, Alabama fans should be happy to hear that DeBoer wants to avoid falling “into the trap where you’re moving guys around” and affecting continuity and chemistry.

“Yeah, you’re gonna try to keep them honed in on one spot,” DeBoer said. “There is a versatility with a number of guys. That’s nice, but you also don’t want to get fallen into the trap where you’re moving guys around, and now that continuity, that familiarity that I’m talking about, it’s something that you don’t see, and now you’re not making the strides you want. So, trying to get guys in spots, try to keep it consistent here. We’ll see as the weeks go on. Some of it is determined by health. We’re in a good spot right now, but some of it is determined as you go through practices, just like in the fall. Like where we’re at. Kind of got a couple of lineups with guys playing spots where they can kind of get a rhythm, be comfortable playing next to each other.”

Right now, the only returning starter is right tackle Michael Carroll, and he wants to stay in his right tackle position and learn more ahead of the 2026 season. Offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb recently named Jackson Lloyd as the starting left tackle, leaving Alabama with some decisions to make about which three offensive linemen will have interior starting jobs.

No prolonged battle at left tackle

The reason Alabama fans should be happy about Grubb naming Lloyd as the starting left tackle is that it shows a sense of urgency from the offensive staff, and it is a decision made with a purpose. This means that the man protecting the blindside of Austin Mack or Keelon Russell has the full support of the coaching staff and his teammates, and he will get enough reps this offseason to prepare for the 2026 season.

“He’s such a freak athlete, super strong, fast, tall and a great person,” Carroll said about his teammate. “So, I definitely saw the development coming, and he’s starting to take advantage of his opportunities.”

The 6-foot-7, 317-pounder is significantly lighter than Kadyn Proctor, who played left tackle in DeBoer’s first two seasons at Alabama. Proctor is about 50 pounds heavier than Lloyd, and there were times when Proctor had slower footwork and got beat by a couple of the lean and mean pass rushers that the Crimson Tide 2025 schedule had to offer.

Maybe a lighter and more mobile left tackle is what Alabama needs for the 2026 season, and the immediate declaration that Grubb made about Lloyd being the guy at left tackle is something to be optimistic about as it will boost confidence and provide Lloyd with the majority of the starting reps he’ll need before September.

Alabama is set for return of original A-Day format

This is a bit self-explanatory, but the return of the original A-Day format is definitely a good sign ahead of the 2026 season because it communicates that Alabama is healthy enough to have the Team Crimson versus Team White scrimmage game.

DeBoer said at his media availability this week that the current plan for A-Day is a scrimmage, but there has not been too much discussion about it within the program as the team is taking things one day at a time. DeBoer has repeatedly said the reason Alabama did not have the scrimmage in 2025 was because of injuries.

These scrimmages have created opportunities for players to experience a gameday-like atmosphere in the spring and play in front of fans for the first time this year. Some of the newer faces will step on Saban Field for the first time in their career, and this scrimmage could be the method that some players at certain positions use to punch their ticket to the starting lineup.

With Mack and Russell currently battling for the starting quarterback job, this scrimmage could heavily impact the competition and maybe swing the battle in favor of one or the other. It’ll be intriguing to see how the running game looks in the scrimmage too after the Crimson Tide were nearly last in rushing yards per game in 2025.

The scrimmage is not going to be televised, but fans can watch it in Bryant-Denny Stadium like usual.

New offensive position coaches are fitting in nicely

Alabama brought in Derrick Nix, Richard Owens and Adrian Klemm to replace a few of the open spots on the offensive coaching staff after Nick Sheridan and JaMarcus Shephard took coaching jobs elsewhere and the firing of Chris Kapilovic.

Sheridan was the offensive coordinator for Alabama in 2024 and was the quarterbacks coach last year, and he is currently the offensive coordinator at Michigan State. Shephard coached wide receivers at Alabama under DeBoer, and now, he is the head coach at Oregon State.

The Crimson Tide replaced Shephard with Nix, a former Auburn offensive coordinator, and they brought in Richard Owens to take over as the tight ends coach because Bryan Ellis moved from that role to coaching quarterbacks. The final move that was made was hiring Klemm, a coach with NFL experience, to replace the fired Kapilovic as the offensive line coach.

After the first few practices of the spring, DeBoer is impressed so far with how fast the new coaches can diagnose problems and coach a player to correct the mistake in a timely and efficient manner.

“Whether it is at this level or the NFL, they know what it is supposed to look like,” DeBoer said. “The thing that jumps out at me, with them in particular, is how efficient they can be. The great coaches can identify something, articulate it quickly, and it makes sense to the player.”

Adjusting to new coaches can be tricky, but based on what DeBoer and select players have said, things are going smoothly, and practice feels more like a pro-style practice.

Alabama’s secondary is loaded

In case you didn’t know, Alabama is loaded in the secondary as 2025 starters Zabien Brown, Dijon Lee Jr., Red Morgan, Bray Hubbard and Keon Sabb all returned for the 2026 season. On top of having this high level of continuity in the secondary, the Crimson Tide added Carmelo O’Neal, a lengthy cornerback that transferred to Alabama after he was discovered by defensive coordinator Kane Wommack when O’Neal played for Mercer against Auburn in 2025.

The Crimson Tide also have Dre Kirkpatrick Jr., Chuck McDonald and Jiren Edwards to work in at a position like husky for example. It is the deepest position group Alabama has on the whole roster from all standpoints including experience, talent, size, chemistry and so on. This is the thing fans should have the most optimism about as spring ball continues.

Lee told the media on Friday that he firmly believes Alabama has the best secondary in the country, and the argument is a strong one when you look at all the returning pieces as well as the transfers and freshmen.