Kalen DeBoer Explains Challenges of Adjusting to Morning Practice

Changing practice times is a major adjustment for the Alabama team, and DeBoer believes the adjustment will yield positive results.

The Crimson Tide works out on the first day of practice for the 2024 season Wednesday, July 31, 2024. Alabama linebacker Keanu Khot (19) grabs a drink of water during a water break. / Gary Cosby Jr.-Tuscaloosa News / USA TODAY NETWORK

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Change is nothing new in the Alabama football program as of late.

Bringing in a new head coach brings with him a lot of changes to the typical ways things were done in the Alabama football facilities for the past 17 years. One of those major changes is the time of day the team holds practice.

Under former head coach Nick Saban, practices were held in the afternoon. Now under head coach Kalen DeBoer, practices are held in the morning, with today's first practice of fall camp having started at 9:05 a.m.

Addressing the media after practice, DeBoer outlined some of the challenges that presented themselves on the first day of the adjusted practice schedule for some players.

"I think that a few guys, even though we really pushed it hard, I think they underestimated the fuel they need to put in their bodies, which leads to cramping and things like that," DeBoer said. "They’ll learn from it, that’s part of this process."

DeBoer went on to explain how the needed adjustment for those players and the change in routine is all part of instilling specific habits and values in his players.

"We talk about them grinding, refining every day in everything," DeBoer said. "Whether it’s note taking in meetings, to their craft and the technique they have, to [realizing] ‘man, I gotta get more sleep, drink more, hydrate.’ I think there’s a couple guys, you follow up on the cramping, ‘What’d you eat?’ They didn’t eat enough."

DeBoer believes the change will yield strong results in a short period of time as the players less accustomed to the adjustment find ways to adapt.

"That will become a positive, because over the week, we don’t want that cumulative fatigue to happen," DeBoer said. "And by practicing with the schedule we’ll be on, I feel like we’ve got it down to where these guys will understand it, adjust accordingly and take advantage of it, not fall fatigue to it."