Will the matchup against Michigan and wanting to end the 2024 season the right way be enough to keep Alabama players from opting out of the ReliaQuest Bowl on New Year’s Eve?
Kalen DeBoer updates injured Alabama second-year WR ahead of bowl game
This a question on the minds of several Alabama football fans. Several players have decided to enter their names into the NCAA transfer portal as it opened on Monday. Marquee names such as Kobe Prentice, Kendrick Law, Caleb Odom, and Jehiem Oatis are going into the portal. Other players like Jahlil Hurley, Keanu Koht, Miles McVay, Danny Lewis Jr., and Hunter Osborne are in.
Kalen DeBoer, Alabama’s head coach, addressed the thought of potential opt-outs for the bowl game in Sunday’s presser.
“I’m not saying there won’t be one, but guys are planning on playing. … That’s my early understanding,” DeBoer said.
Alabama has some players that are being looked at as potential first-round picks in next year’s NFL Draft, but DeBoer said most of the team is ‘planning on playing’ in the bowl game. This is a chance for him to form his culture for the Crimson Tide.
DeBoer and the Tide did not accomplish the ultimate goal of making the College Football Playoff and competing for a national championship; however, it can have the right players in place to go at it next season. Alabama had many big names to play in the 2022 Allstate Sugar Bowl — despite it missing the playoff — including Bryce Young and Will Anderson Jr. It also had Jerry Jeudy, DeVonta Smith, Henry Ruggs III, and Najee Harris among others to play in the 2019 Citrus Bowl after missing the playoff.
Alabama used its leadership from the Citrus Bowl to spring board it into winning the CFP National Championship in 2020.
It will be interesting to see how DeBoer uses the ReliaQuest Bowl versus Michigan to start his culture in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
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Stephen M. Smith is the senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith.
