Alabama Football Has 'A Couple Extra Scholarships' to Utilize in Spring Window

Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer discussed how he plans on using the transfer portal on Tuesday morning.

New Alabama football head coach Kalen DeBoer has been on the job for just over a month and has finally found time to settle into a routine. The former Washington coach was thrust into the role of replacing legendary head coach Nick Saban only a few days after losing the national championship game in Houston. 

DeBoer's primary role was manage the Alabama roster in the wake of Saban's retirement as many of the Crimson Tide players came to the Capstone to play for the iconic signal caller. 

Despite DeBoer's best efforts, some of Alabama's top talent still decided to hit the transfer portal but the new coach joined Greg McElroy and Cole Cubelic on WJOX on Tuesday and said that from an internal perspective the roster turnover didn't feel as dramatic as the national narrative suggested. 

“I think a lot of that turnover happened before we even stepped foot on campus. I think at one point – the numbers may have changed, maybe one or two guys here and there – but I think 18 or so the guys were in the portal before Coach even retired. It’s just like you said, the nature of kind of college football right now, college athletics. But maybe a couple others that weren’t in yet but maybe had even put their name in. And it just takes a day or two for that to happen. So there was probably four or five guys that really I got a chance to be around and meet and they still decided to kind of move on and test the waters elsewhere," said DeBoer to McElroy & Cubelic in the Morning. "So from internally, there’s not this feeling that guys didn’t stay the course once we got here. "

Alabama lost players like Isaiah Bond, Caleb Downs and Kadyn Proctor to the transfer portal, but gained players like center Parker Brailsford, receiver Germie Bernard, cornerback Domani Jackson, edge LT Overton, and safety Keon Sabb and more via the portal as well. 

DeBoer told the Birmingham radio show he's been excited to spend time in the facility and prepare for spring practice now that recruiting has entered a dead period. The Alabama Crimson Tide football program began its annual spring offseason conditioning program they endearingly call "Fourth Quarter". 

"We love who we have here, and man yesterday, just being in the indoor and going through our Fourth Quarter workout, it was electric. It has made this culture what it is and gotten it to this point. They’ve got a little chip on their shoulder, I think. There’s a little bit of noise here and there that they might hear, and we’re going to use that to our advantage just to help us be motivated, go to another level," said DeBoer.

The Crimson Tide head coach also explained that he'll look to add more talent by way of the transfer portal in the spring window. Alabama appears to have just a little wiggle room with scholarship limits.

 According to rolltide.com's online roster there are 76 scholarship players currently with eight more enrolling in the summer, bringing Alabama's total to 84 of the allotted 85 scholarships. There's always questions about specialists or some in-state athletes as to their scholarship percentages and the Tide may lose more in the spring window as well, giving DeBoer and his staff some flexibility when it comes to finalizing the last few spots on next year's team. 

“But I think we do have a couple of spots, and you naturally just kind of keep your eyes and ears open for what those are going to be and we’ve gotta go through our spring ball and continue to evaluate our team. I think there’s some good young players that will step up and do a great job. But we do have a couple extra scholarships. Not a lot, but we do have a couple extra scholarships still available that we could utilize when that time comes.”

The college football spring transfer portal window opens on Monday, April 15 and closes Tuesday, April 30. The Crimson Tide concludes its spring practice period with its annual A-Day game on Saturday, April 13, allowing the coaching staff and the roster the full spring period to get to know one another and where they stand before transfer decisions are made. 

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