Explaining the format changes for Kalen DeBoer's 1st A-Day

The old and new eras of Alabama football will link together Saturday. While Nick Saban will stop by Denny Chimes to honor last year’s captains — his first time around UA fans at a football event since his Jan. 10 retirement — Kalen DeBoer and the 2024 Tide team will be preparing for its annual A-Day spring game. That won’t be the only change featured in UA’s annual scrimmage this weekend.

Under Saban, the Tide was split into Team Crimson and Team White. Coaches would draft between the first- and second-team options with the winners achieving a steak dinner and the losers earning a can of beans. The steak and beans tradition remains, but the game won’t be as traditional.

Alabama will be split into offense and defense. Points will be allotted at the end of each drive depending on the result. Stats will kept by UA officials and distributed through the media. There will be the Dwight Stephenson Award for Most Valuable Lineman and the Dixie Howell Memorial Award for Most Valuable Player.

DeBoer explained the reasoning behind the changes on Thursday:

“A couple reasons, No. 1, I like to look at it as practice No. 15. We’ll see a lot of scrimmaging out there, but it’s a chance for us to get better. It’s a chance for us to take a next step. A chance for us to evaluate, as well. And so try to really get down to the bare bones of playing some football. It gives us a chance to really also celebrate what we’re doing and where we’re at and enjoy the moment with the fans. So excited to see a packed stadium there and looking forward to seeing everyone come and support our program.”

Saban’s first A-Day in 2007 famously brought over 90,000 screaming fans into Bryant-Denny Stadium. The anticipation for practice football diminished through the 17-year dynastic run, but there’s potential in a debut. After not being televised a year ago, UA’s scrimmage is one of the only airing on ESPN.

DeBoer has already maximized his first recruiting class and junior day, pulling in multiple blue-chip commitments, and now has to see where his roster stands before the spring portal opens.

Positions to watch on Saturday include offensive tackle — where freshman and Tyler Booker have taken reps — to center and presumed starter James Brockermeyer; Parker Brailsford remains away from the team. It’ll be the first time Jalen Milroe and the Tide’s other quarterbacks publically perform DeBoer’s offense. Defensive coordinator Kane Wommack will counter with his 4-2-5 ‘swarm’ scheme, similar to Saban’s but with different position names.

“I’m laughing because when I talked to the guys about the steak dinner, I referred to it as, what did I say, ‘beenies and weenies,’ a slip of the tongue. Of course we had a good little laugh out there on the field,” DeBoer said. “There’s some traditions that the guys certainly bring up that have been important, that they feel strong about. I’m still learning some of those, things that haven’t maybe come up yet. You’re still learning some of those really neat things that are important to these guys because it’s happened in the program for many years.”

DeBoer said the team, particularly the offense, is “fullsteam ahead” despite the looming transfer portal window (April 16-30).

Nick Alvarez is a reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @nick_a_alvarez or email him at NAlvarez@al.com.