Parker Brailsford Reflects on First Four Games of Alabama Career

The Alabama center was one of many players and assistants to follow Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer from Washington to Tuscaloosa in the offseason.

Alabama Linebacker Jihaad Campbell (11) and Alabama Offensive Lineman Parker Brailsford (72) celebrates at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, AL on Saturday, Sep 28, 2024. / Photo by Crimson Tide Photos / UA Athletics

When Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer was hired to fill the unfillable shoes of Nick Saban, who retired from the position on Jan. 10, the former Washington Huskies head coach had many assistants and players follow him to the Crimson Tide.

One of those players was starting center Parker Brailsford, who just a few weeks before the transfer to Alabama, led Washington's offensive line to a National Championship appearance. While the Huskies didn't win the big game against Michigan, Washington was previously named the recipient of the Joe Moore Award, which is given annually to the best front-five in the nation.

While at Washington, Brailsford weighed around 270 pounds, which is on the lower side for a center. But after Alabama's practice on Tuesday, he explained that he used that as motivation last season in the College Football Playoff semifinal against Texas and the aforementioned National Championship against Michigan.

"It doesn't really get to me, at least not negatively, it just adds fuel to the fire. I've always been smaller," Brailsford said. "Freshman year of college, even in high school I was small. "[As a redshirt freshman] I feel like people didn't really know who I was. [Opponents would say] 'He weighs 270 pounds so I'm just gonna bull rush him' and it doesn't really work like that all the time."

Since arriving at Alabama, Brailsford has put on 15-20 pounds, as he said on Tuesday he now weighs around 285-290 pounds. He admitted that the southern food has definitely helped with this as his ultimate love for mac and cheese has been taken over by yams.

Alabama's offensive line was far from perfect in the first two games of this season, especially against South Florida. That said, besides a botched snap, Brailsford has arguably been the Crimson Tide's most efficient member of the front-five and the group as a whole has certainly improved since then. Brailsford assessed the entire offensive line's performance through four games on Tuesday.

"I think we're playing good, but there's definitely things to clean up," Brailsford said. "There's a couple of things on the inside, a couple of twists that we need to pick up cleaner and we're working on that at practice. Definitely room for improvement."

Newly No. 1-ranked Alabama is coming off an instant classic 41-34 victory against then No. 2-ranked Georgia. While this has been considered the consensus game of the year by the college football world, Brailsford understands that the foot must continue to stay on the pedal, starting with a road matchup against Vanderbilt on Saturday, Oct. 5, at 3:15 p.m. CT on SEC Network.

"We're definitely going to get everybody's best shot, but we're always playing to our standard," Brailsford said. "It doesn't really matter who's in front of us or what they got going on. We're going to prep the same, play just as physical and the standard is the standard."

Brailsford revealed one player who has emphasized this motto is left guard and co-captain Tyler Booker, who has "really been inspirational" to the Tide's new center.

"I see him at like 320-330 [pounds] chasing a ball downfield and I'm like 'Yeah, I know, I should be doing that too' and I do, but it's just inspirational to see how hard he works and the message that he brings every day -- it's never good enough."

In late August, Booker opened up about Brailsford and detailed his early impact on the rest of the offensive line both on and off the field.

"Parker is essentially a coach on the field for us because he's played in that scheme for two years previously," Booker said. "He understands what coach DeBoer is looking for and he understands the purpose of the play."

Booker also explained that Brailsford's time at Washington and with DeBoer has helped him emerge as a leader of the offensive line almost immediately after he arrived in Tuscaloosa.

"When Parker just got here, I had him come over and the rest of the offensive line, had my girlfriend make some food and we just watched a bunch of film," Booker said. "But he was like 'Okay, this what this play is.' But when he said, 'Okay, let's say this is inside zone,' he called it something like, 'This is what we called it last year, and this is what it is now.' He's really been a coach on the field and very helpful. It also helps that he's super talented and super explosive. I can't wait to play a real game with him."

After four real games, it appears that Brailsford and Booker have a great bond.