Kalen Deboer Resorts to a Completely “Different Vision” to Address Alabama’s Concerning Offensive Line Issues

Published 03/22/2024, 8:10 AM EDT

The new era in Alabama has begun. Kalen DeBoer has taken over Nick Saban at Tuscaloosa in all senses. With the recruiting hassles, the player tussles, and the lineman differences, head coaching duties at Alabama are hitting DeBoer from all sides. Yet, mustering up all the expertise from his almost 19 years of head coaching experience, DeBoer is molding situations in a way that seems to be working out for him.

Following DeBoer’s approximately $87 million contract running for eight years, Alabama is starting to see some team-building action from Nick Saban’s successor. Call it marking his territory or leveraging the technology to his benefit, DeBoer is focusing on his “different vision” to muster up the best candidates for his social media team.

“We just are in the final, kind of, times here to hire some people in our creative department that we really feel mesh well together. There’s a little different vision we have, and we wanted to make sure we have the right people, and we’ve done that,” DeBoer said to Tide 100.9 on Wednesday.

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DeBoer’s different vision encompasses the team’s message and understanding of the culture that they deliver to fans. Highlighting the resources and people of Alabama will make Tide fans feel more connected to DeBoer and Co., a strategy that worked miracles for Colorado. To make this happen, DeBoer has carefully picked Walt Brock as a replacement for their former director of football graphics, Jonathan King, who was “let go” three days after DeBoer’s hire.

Brock comes to Alabama flaunting his experience with the Oakland Raiders, small stints with Columbia University and Cal Berkeley, and a role within Conference USA’s office, all thanks to his co-founded sports marketing and branding company, Crossovr Collective. Another staffer named Oliver also joined the Crimson Tide following his period with North Texas.

The staff looks fresh, but does the offensive line, especially after Saban’s exit, look as fresh? Or is the shiny new wrapping on Alabama’s social media team a camouflage for some major flaw?

Kalen DeBoer and the Bama offensive line

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T-Town is alive with preparations for the 2024 Golden Flake A-Day Spring Football Game. With the big A-Day less than a month away, DeBoer and the team are practicing in full swing. However, after the conclusion of one such practice session, Alabama’s head coach shed light on a major pressing flaw that Bama would need to address ahead of the Spring Day game.

The offensive line depth of the Crimson Tide is not looking good as of now. “Offensive line wise, you can just see if you look at our scholarship numbers, we are short there,” DeBoer confessed in his interview. Currently, Alabama has just 13 linemen on scholarship. Among these, only two linemen from last year’s team, Tyler Booker and Jaeden Roberts, have notched significant playing time. Safe to say, the Crimson is running quite thin at the position. So much so that even one or two injuries could prove detrimental to the team.

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The only source of hope for DeBoer is the spring portal opening, where DeBoer and Co. can expect to add a few more offensive linemen to their roster. Amidst all this, Kadyn Proctor’s return to Alabama would prove to be nothing less than a blessing to the team. What do you think about the tacky situation of the Crimson Tide’s offensive line? Drop your opinions in the comments.

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Pankti Parmar is an NFL news writer at EssentiallySports. She combines her educational background in psychology with a passion for sports to delve into the minds of athletes and their game strategies. She's our resident expert on Jim Harbaugh and played a pivotal role in our play-by-play coverage of Harbaugh's journey from the Wolverines to the Chargers.

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Anuj Jacob

Kalen Deboer Resorts to a Completely “Different Vision” to Address Alabama’s Concerning Offensive Line Issues

Kalen DeBoer and the Bama offensive line

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