Alabama Football 2024 Preview

SEC media days I saw your Tweet talking about how kayin dbor is handling it so far there Alabama's in town so let's start with Alabama what's the vibe look man I think kayin dor uh he's he's done everything he needs to do and and seeing him and and talking to him and it's just like at the Senior Bowl David when we talked to him he's a genuine just a cool dude like he just he's really himself and you know we're going to get to the Malachi Mo interview I talked to Tyler Booker to the offensive lineman for Alabama and you know watching him and listening to the the way he answers questions are very professional but you can tell he's just really being himself he's not trying to be Nick Sabin he didn't come in here with some huge ego like well you know Nick sain was the greatest but I'm Kaylin D'Or look at what I've done and he's doing it in his own way and I think that's the most important thing if you're going to replace a guy like Nick Sabin you can't come in and try and be Nick Sabin right that's that's a losing bet you have to be yourself that doesn't mean you don't take some things from him you know I was told when I was in coaching you take a little bit from every coach you work for and then when you finally get that head coaching job you put it together and mix that with with you know 80% of being yourself so I I think he's approached it the right way the players seem excited and guys I tell you the the access to the players this year you know this is our our fourth I think SCC media days we've never had more time and more access to Alabama coaches and players so it feels like there's kind of a new chapter uh that's been turning but as far as the vibe about the Alabama team I mean they're as confident as they've ever been uh there is a little bit of of you know nervousness and anxiety from the fan base but all I can tell with kayin dbor is is they're taking this thing in stride and he's doing it his way and I think that's the best way to go about it well we're definitely going to get to the Malachi Mo interview after we break down their schedule but you did sit down with Tyler Booker right and Tyler Booker said something today do you know what he was saying earlier today something about um you were telling me about this that uh he was asked if Nick if he was upset with Nick Sabin not picking Alabama to be in the SEC oh yeah and he said uh he said I always said said uh coach sa always said don't let guys uh who live in their mom's basement determine how you feel so I'm not going to let a guy who plays golf all day determine how I feel beautiful is that got that was in just yeah yeah yeah no that that was injest it was uh and and Nick sa thought it was hilarious too it's using using the quote the guy said kind of against him but man um they still you know the love for Coach Sabin I mean every time you ask about them they light up Jaylen milroe who was here went and saw him and took his hat off when he saw him you can tell it's that's the coach player relationship but um no that was said in Justin it was funny I I tell with the personality that that's one of the coolest things about media days is you get to see the personalities of these guys and uh I tell you what talking to Malachi like like we said I mean we talk just straight just straight ball uh because that's what we do here at craning company but looking at Tyler and and talking with him about the transition uh it was a funny joke but these guys have have really good personalities and it's it's fun to see that kind of kind of you know Blossom here at SEC media days let me ask you this and I I've had this thought throughout the week does it feel like Nick Sabin is swallowing up some of the spotlight and taking away from coach dbor cuz this week we've talked more about Nick sabbin than coach dbor and it's not even close well I think coach dor wants it that way uh I don't think coach dor wants it to be all about him I mean and I think with all the other changes too with Texas and Oklahoma coming into the league the expanded college football playoff the rumors about FSU and Clemson that's kind of taken some of some of the the headlines of just coach dor out of it so yeah I I mean again the greatest coach of all time retired and now now he's an analyst on the other side and and sit here at media days in a different way you know he has to wear his credential now I guess but uh no I I think that's exactly how they want it they don't want to be the focus on oh oh it's it's coach toor this coach toor that uh they want to be the focus you know they don't want to be at the spotlight they just want to get through media day and win media day so yeah and and another thing guys if you notice you know yeah there's there's been headlines and and there's been a couple sound bites that have been good but all this stuff we talked about before SEC media days with what Texas and Oklahoma would do when they got in the SEC and and uh you know what would the SEC look like with 16 teams it's um it kind of feels like we're just running the ground ball out on things that we've already talked about already well I want I want to break down Alabama's schedule real quick I mean obviously the double digigit win Mark has been The Benchmark for Alabama Nick Sabin won double- digit games every year he was there except for that first season and when you look at this schedule I mean 10 and two it's I mean it's going to be tough to get 10 and two no matter who's coaching them bla you got that schedule pull yeah I do you're going to start it off with Western Kentucky is be a win there USF at home week two week three you're going on the road at Wisconsin week four the game everybody's talking about that is Georgia at home week five at Vandy then you have South Carolina at home on the road at Tennessee Missouri at home at LSU mercer at home at Oklahoma and you're finish the game in the iron bowl at home versus [Music] Auburn yeah and everybody's going to you know look at that Georgia game first and I get it right that's should be a a massive Showdown you know you're going to have that game you're going to have Auburn in Oklahoma that week as well but I caution Alabama fans do not Overlook Wisconsin and Luke fickle uh this is year two up there for him now Tyler van djk do I trust him not that much I think he you know will actually be better than Tanner morai who really let me down last year I thought he'd have a better year but Luke fickle is GNA have a plan and if Alabama fans think you're just going to go up and I'm not saying they do and I know the team doesn't think this but if you think you're just going to go up to C Camp Randle and roll your helmet out there and beat these guys uh you're not this Wisconsin team is going to be better now another thing people aren't talking about is Ryan grub not being there and your room former roommate David Nick Sheridan being the OC at Alabama that's going to have a huge effect it it it is Ryan grub was a guy that kayin dor really didn't have to worry about the offense he was able to just be the CEO and I'm not saying Nick Sheridan ain't going to do a great job but Ryan grub to Nick Sheridan is a little bit of a different level at least to this point so Luke vickle going to have a plan he's a defensive guy they're going to have a great plan up there so if Alabama goes up and and messes around and lets Wisconsin just hang around and then lets Wisconsin jump around it could get a little dicey cuz you're not you don't want to be looking at Georgia when you're going up to a Wisconsin team that up front I think can play with you a little bit well and we talked about this with Alabama last year and I want to see what uh your expectations are going to be we waited for the offensive coordinator to to tailor the offense around who that's Jayla milro how early do you think this offense will be tailored around him and do you expect it to be week one well that's why we that's what we asked him down as a Senior Bowl right like how how are you going to go about yes you have a system right but Jaylen milroe kind of has a style and and we brought up you know the kind of the emergence of Alabama offensively once they stopped trying to put a round peg into a square hole coach dor said I adjust my system to my personnel which is what Jackson Dart said that lane kein does that's what all the smart coaches do whether it's on offense whether it's on defense now in a perfect world you know three years in when you can get your guy in there and you want to run your system exactly the way you want your systems built to be run that's great but you got a prime time player in jayen milroe right you you you got to you got to let the let the tiger out of the cage and you got to assemble that offense to his strengths you you have to adjust to them and I think they'll do that so I think from week one that they're going to do that because kayin dbor said they're going to do it and I've watched him do it over time um now you know when you look at Alabama's Personnel Alabama's still got really really really really good players the question is up front are they going to take a step because they got talent but they weren't very good last year and they put Jaylen moroe in some bad situations including a lot of bad snaps is Alabama going to make that jump on the offensive line that could really turn this offense into a Lethal Lethal Weapon obviously there were games last year with the play calling in Jayla milroe where we were just scratching our heads there were so many times I wanted to pick up the phone and call Tommy Reese and ask like hey what are we doing here what is the game plan are you being handcuffed possibly by Nick Sabin and the offense he wants to run well that's not going to happen this next year cuz I can pick up the phone and call the guys who's calling the play and I plan on doing that at least before the season starts we won't bother Nick mid midseason but and Nick and I have already talked about hey what is the game plan here Jayla maro's not necessar the prototypical type of quarterback that a kin dor type of offense wants right we've seen Michael pennick Jr throw him for 10,000 9,000 yards the past two seasons at uh at Washington but he is a returning starter he did finish six in the Heisman Trophy voting that's going to add a lot of familiarity with with a a program where you're the winningest head coach of all time Nick Nick Sabin is leaving but I hear everything you're saying on the Wisconsin game yes Wisconsin's going to be better under Luke fickle that's going to be a tough football game uh Wisconsin can 100% win that game but let's just go ahead and say Alabama wins on the road right they start 3 and0 before that first bye I mean the six games I'm really looking at down the stretch here Jake obviously Georgia coming to town and Tuscaloosa going to be one of the most anticipated college football games uh of the last 20 years all right Tennessee in Knoxville we know what happened the last time they went to Knoxville the goalpost ended up in the Tennessee River Missouri at home and Tuscaloosa normally you can just go ahead and put a win in that column for Alabama this isn't a normal Year all right we all talked about at nauseum how good Missouri is going to be LSU in Baton Rouge again last time Alabama went to Baton Rouge that's Brian Kelly's first year they got that win at the last second Oklahoma in Norman and then alurn in Tuscaloosa yes but it is still the iron bow anybody can win that game that six games right there I mean those six games how do you think they Faire record wise well you know when I look at the schedule overall I'm never surprised If Alabama wins double digit games right like it especially with the Personnel that they still have but I really feel like this may be the year where they don't and people say oh well that's because you know you're from Auburn no I've picked Alabama to win the national championship before Auburn had sent me a check yet but look at the way the schedule Falls right let's say you get past Wisconsin that Georgia game it's it's 50/50 now we talked about Georgia the other day and said they're they're a little bit more deficient on the defense line I'm not trying to use the word weakness cuz they're not weak but they're more deficient than they have been in the past on the defensive line and I think jayen Moro and this Alabama Run game can kind of take advantage of that to open up other things we'll see if they can stop Georgia on the defensive side of the ball but you get look when you get Tennesse at Tennessee by that time Nico is going to have made some mistakes but he's going to have learned from them he's going to be very comfortable by that point in the season so you're going to get a Tennessee team on the road that depending on how they start that that game was going to be crazy either way but that Tennessee team could really be feeling it with an opportunity to get supercharged Godzilla style and then you you know LSU is always tough um but you know again a game the Missouri game right now do I think Missouri can stop Alabama on on offense I don't but I think Le Luther Burton and Brady cook and some of the cats Missouri has on offense they can score with them and if you stay in that game long enough you always have a chance to win it but I think nine and3 is a very realistic is a very based as as the kids say nowadays and a very legitimate possibility uh and that's including a win on the road at Wisconsin which isn't guaranteed and and just not to be too longwinded here guys but we've said over and over again that I think kin dour's tenure is going to be defined by the level of of panic that sets in when something inevitably goes wrong because it always does typically during the regular season right even under Nick Sav let's say you go up to Wisconsin and and something goes wrong and you lose that game or you beat Wisconsin then you lose to Georgia whenever Nick Sav lost at Alabama Alabama fans could point in and say all right yeah we're panicking you know cuz fans short for fanatical but it's Nick Savin he's going to fix it and he did because he always does he's the greatest college football coach of all college football coach of all time Kaylin dbor hasn't built up any Equity yet with that fan base I mean this he did it Washington but this ain't Washington he did earlier in his career this ain't earlier in his career so that to me is and that's where I think Jaylen mil's biggest contribution and helped to kayin dor guys that may be off the field in the locker room the first time Panic sets in when something goes wrong just to calm the temperature down a little bit and uh you know keep everybody together well bla the wildest part is the nine and three that Jake's talking about is 100% possible talk about a new coach in that schedule right there but what's crazy about it and N9 and three is not you're not playing for the conference Championship right what's crazy though is Alabama could still win the national champ I ship I think they have that kind of roster they have that type of pedigree returning they could still win the National Championship in a year where we see the playoff expanded even though they don't play in the conference Championship absolutely 100% I've watched an Alabama team I've watched Auburn win the SEC Championship then go watch Alabama win the national championship never ever and that was in a four team yeah and that was in a four team so like the biggest thing with alab they're always going to have the talent they have the talent on both sides of the ball and I think it's huge one you have a Heisman finals in jayen milroe and just is the experience that he brings back for your new head coach and the biggest question if I'm wrong tell me I am but it's going to be coming into this year is Alabama secondary right that's their somewhat of a weak link yeah and and again I mean when you lose so many guys to the draft as Alabama has it is going to be a quote unquote weakness I I well again using that word I think they're just unproven right like like they're really good players like these are these are Nick Sabin recruited players and he's a a DB coach a football Savant but you know he Specializes Forte was in defense and defensive back play so they're Uber talented I mean again talked with Malachi Mo here you'll see him and and you'll start to understand it so I think it's just unproven and maybe that leads to the questions blae and and I'm not saying you're wrong I I think that is right uh but it's not like we know they have bad players that are returning right they just have unproven guys at some spots that we've got to see do it but if history and the track record continues Alabama should be fine in the secondary well that's a great segue to your interview Jake with Malachi Moore this would be a great time to play that all right we are here with another Alabama standout Malachi Moore again the chains these guys have been I know I keep bringing it up right at the beginning of the interviews but I mean Tyler's was awesome yours looks good make sure you show can you can you show everybody in the camera right there I love aai obviously it's SM aai look I know everybody tries to get these sound bites they're like oh you know I know you probably got asked a million questions about you know coach dor being the new coach I'm going to talk a little safety play I coach DBS for a long time playing safety fun position it I don't think people realize how much you get to do with that you get to do pretty much everything you know you can come downhill and make plays in a run game you can play Man coverage Play Zone coverage you can intercept the ball and go score a touchdown can you just tell everybody how much fun it is playing the safety position uh yeah playing a safety position is very fun um I think the my senior year in high school I got moved to safety from playing corner and then this year I'm playing uh strong safety so it's Bas it's basically it's really been uh a fun new experience of learning a new position and uh all the nuances of that position definitely well you know I want to talk a little bit about in in this league in the SEC how hard is and again you're as athletic as all get out you got to be to play that position but with the wide receivers you go against nothing needs to scare me more than you being a safety without any nickel help in front of you and guys trying to you know run down the middle ofy give a two-way go where have you grown moving from corner to safety cuz there are some similarities but it's different The Depths are way different where have you grown as a player as far as in the middle of the route you know understanding The Leverage I mean is that what makes you be able to play at the level that you play at uh yeah just basically based off uh stamps of the receiver eliminating certain routes off their off their stems or off their releases uh for so to say if I get somebody who gives me a outside release and I'm playing in a slot on number three nine times out of 10 he's not going to come back inside if he releasing outside from number three and if he was going inside the number three it would be more now since he's closer to the ball uh just little bits and pieces of that and I've been talking to a lot of uh veterans in the league from HaHa Clinton Dicks to uh Jamal Adams and just picking uh people's brain about uh how to play the position and just uh give people different perspectives who is the and look I know you got to be confident obviously to play that position but real recognize real right you you know the the guys that you go up against a wide receiver there who's the toughest guy that you've had to to cover all like in my whole College in your whole in your practice game all like it ain't got it don't have to be a game it can be on on Alabama city who's the hardest guy you have to cover I would say the hardest guy I I would say they tied for first I'm going to give it to uh W and Smitty my freshman year coming in you want to talk about learn well they always say you you make practice harder than the game and the game's a little bit easier I mean Jaylen W and Devonte are doing big things in the league all right last question here with Malachi Moore safety strong safety Alabama mix sure and say that Coach Bo I asked Tyler about this I want to get your opinion it seems to me that coach dbor is doing this his own way and he's been really genuine because it's tough to go in there you can't try and be Nick sa right you got to be yourself is that kind of the the impression you've got from coach tobor is that look I'm coming in I know I'm replacing the goat Nick Savin but I'm going to do it my way yeah that's kind of that's kind of the the feel I've been getting from coach theor uh you know he definitely wants to keep the tradition of Alabama going and what Co has built in his um I would say he definitely been doing a good job being sensitive to the situation at hand always letting us know that he's always available for us to talk to coach sa whenever we need to and him uh kind of not like having like um like a Clos mindset when it comes to what he's walking into cuz um a lot of people did come here to play for Coach saving a lot of people wanted to play for uh you know the greatest college football coach of all time but um coach the board has came in here and uh won over the team with with what we were what we're doing and his mission and um everything's the same though mentally I would say uh as a team the goal is the goal the standard is the standard and we we always talk about that and the coach the board is always about um Improvement he he has a thing called Relentless uh continuous of improvement so being relentless and being continuous in the way we we want to improve it is going to put us where we want to be man well congratulations on all the success stay healthy good luck this year we're going to be watching you Malachi Mor at Alabama we cover college football he covers receivers make sure you subscribe all right that's awesome all right Jake I mean terion Arnold first round draft pick last year Corner leaves Alabama Kool-Aid mckenstry second round leaves Alabama Caleb Downs transfers out goes to the Buckeyes so you got Malachi Moore there in the secondary now they're moving him to strong safety but I don't get a sense that he's lost any confidence in that unit's ability to help deliver for the Crimson Tide no it's it's hard to lose confidence when you have to cover Jaylen Wadd and Devonte Smith in practice like that that's my whole thing it's like when you've stacked all this Talent like Alabama has you you do that for attrition right whether that be the NFL draft whether that be maybe somebody getting injured whether that be the transfer portal like with Caleb D so I mean Alabama's deeper than the Indian Ocean when it comes to personnel and those guys they send out there in the secondary on Saturdays this fall are going to be damn good football players because that's really all they have at Alabama so that's why again and Blaine's right to there's questions well there's questions because we haven't seen a lot of these guys because they're new but there's a reason that they got a full scholarship and now a little bit more to well now officially a little bit more to go to Alabama and play what's up YouTube hit that like hit that subscribe button cranon company gives you the best insights of everything and right now is college football make sure to put on notifications so you see every post we put up thank you much love