Former Alabama safety says he was told morning practices negatively impacted Tide last season

Photo via Alabama Athletics

Former Alabama football safety and SEC Network analyst Roman Harper said he heard morning practices hurt the Crimson Tide during the early portion of the 2025 season.

The Crimson Tide have practiced in the morning since Kalen DeBoer took over as the Tide’s head coach. He gave his thoughts on scheduling practices in the morning before his first season leading Alabama football.

“I don’t think there’s a right or wrong,” DeBoer said. ” We’ve had success in the mornings and afternoons, but how I can mesh things together and make a schedule throughout the week that fits practice in the mornings,” DeBoer said. “That’s something that I feel like I understand well. That’s something that I feel like our guys have embraced. I’ve educated them, again, this isn’t necessarily the only way you win, but this is the way that I’ve achieved success and I think they’re very open to it. I appreciate our guys for being that way.”

Harper revealed he heard morning practices impacted the Tide when they opened the season against Florida State last year.

“I had heard that was one of the big struggles for Alabama versus Florida State,” Harper said on Next Round Live. “They really haven’t practiced a lot of times at that time slot. And then to go down to Tallahassee at a 3:30 game where it was cooking, and all of a sudden you look up, and everybody look— and the film doesn’t lie, the guys look dead tired. They looked tired. They had lost mentally and physically in that game.”

Morning practices are still expected to happen this fall in Tuscaloosa under DeBoer. Alabama is expected to start fall camp this week.