Alabama
'Hope he realizes he's at Alabama:' HS coaches react to Kalen DeBoer news
Veteran UMS-Wright coach Terry Curtis has some point-blank advice for new Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer.
“I just hope he realizes he’s at Alabama,” said Curtis, who has won eight state titles at UMS. “It’s a whole different ballgame.”
The Crimson Tide is set to hire DeBoer, who led Washington to the national title game this season, to replace legendary coach Nick Saban, according to multiple reports. DeBoer was meeting with his players at Washington late Friday.
“I’m sure they did their due diligence,” Curtis said. “I don’t want to say anything bad, but undoubtedly, he wasn’t their No. 1 choice. But he’s been successful. I guess we will have to wait and find out who he hires.
“I’m sure he will need coach Saban to help him and kind of give him the lay of the land. To me, it’s just kind of surprising to go way out West to get a coach with no real background in this part of the country.”
Several prominent Alabama high school football coaches said they also were taking a wait-and-see attitude about DeBoer.
“I think Alabama fans have to trust the athletic director and the people who made the hire,” Thompson head coach Mark Freeman said. “Let the guy get here and prove himself and see who he puts around him. The alumni and the boosters have to get on board and support him and pray he keeps it going.”
Recruiting – whether from high school or in the transfer portal – is clearly the lifeline of college football success. Alabama’s final recruiting class under Saban is currently ranked second behind only SEC rival Georgia. It includes a pair of five-stars and 19 four-star recruits. Washington’s 2024 class ranks 36th, according to 247 sports. It includes seven four-star players and 16 commits total.
“The first thing he’ll need to do is get down here and get some coaches familiar with the SEC and the South and Alabama,” said new Hoover coach Drew Gilmer, who led Clay-Chalkville to two of the last three Class 6A state titles. “He will have to get in there and hold on to those kids they have and build relationships with them, and I’m sure he will.
“It will be interesting to see how fast he can pick up on things. It really all goes back to hiring good assistants and getting good recruits. His record on the field certainly speaks for itself.”
The top unsigned player in the country, Saraland 5-star wide receiver Ryan Williams, quickly decommitted from Alabama when Saban announced his retirement on Wednesday.
Alabama officials informed the AHSAA this week that, if a coach was hired in time, he would likely be at the Alabama Sports Writers Association Mr. Football banquet on Tuesday in Montgomery. Williams, who is visiting Texas A&M this weekend, is again a finalist for Class 6A Back of the Year.
“He’s got to get to work quickly and try to solidify the guys Alabama has and try to get some, like Ryan Williams, back if he can,” Curtis said. “If he can do that, it would obviously be big.”
Williams’ high school coach, Jeff Kelly, was intrigued by the hire.
“With him being out on the West Coast, I know we don’t hear a lot but, watching them play and the things they do offensively, it seems like he’s as good as anyone out there,” Kelly said. “It’s a fun brand of football to watch. I think he will be a guy who will stretch the field, and Alabama has been successful with that lately with Tua (Tagovailoa) and Jalen (Milroe) and other guys. I don’t know him, but I look forward to getting to know him.”
DeBoer grew up in South Dakota and has little or no background in the South. That likely will make the structure of his first staff at Alabama integral.
“On any staff, who you hire is important,” Hewitt-Trussville coach Josh Floyd said. “That is the case no matter where you are or what level you are on. He’ll need to have guys who know the South and know the landscape. That’s very important, but I do think Alabama sells itself. They have every resource available to recruit players and get coaches. He’s already starting way ahead of most people.”
Floyd said he was impressed by DeBoer’s ability to win at every level in which he has coached. Each coach agreed on one main thing.
“You have to live off recruiting,” Freeman said. “He has got to get to know kids as sophomores and juniors and build those relationships. He needs to hire some Alabama people. That’s the biggest thing – hire some guys who have been in the SEC, recruited in the SEC and know the background of Alabama. That is a must.”
Alabama
3 Alabama players who helped their draft stock at 2026 NFL combine
Each player had a pivotal role on the Crimson Tide in 2025.
Alabama had a multitude of former players who performed at an elite level at the NFL combine this past weekend.
Former Alabama star quarterback Ty Simpson was among those who put his talents on full display in Indianapolis, as Simpson continues to emerge as a top quarterback prospect available in April’s draft.
Numerous Crimson Tide stars on both sides of the football were able to have an excellent showing at the combine as well, with each playmaker a vital component to the Tide’s success in 2025.
Here are three Alabama players who helped their draft stock rise at the NFL combine.
Ty Simpson, Quarterback
Simpson is widely regarded as the best quarterback prospect available outside of Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza. The talented redshirt junior put on an absolute show at the NFL combine, as Simpson delivered multiple perfect throws and put his talents on full display throughout Saturday’s events.
The former Alabama star is a candidate to potentially shine day one in his campaign in the NFL, as Simpson’s draft stock continues to rise prior to April.
Jam Miller, Running Back
Miller is an extremely fast and athletic running back, despite struggling in the Tide’s backfield last season. The star running back recorded an impressive 4.43u 40-yard dash time, as Miller could very easily shine in the NFL next season with consistent playing time.
Miller was nothing short of elite throughout his entire performance at the combine in Indianapolis, as the former Tide running back continues to rise in a multitude of draft rankings around the football world.
Kadyn Proctor, Offensive Tackle
Proctor played a crucial role on Alabama’s offensive line last season. The star lineman reportedly slimmed down prior to the NFL combine, as Proctor displayed elite speed and athleticism throughout Sunday’s combine in Indianapolis.
Proctor is widely expected to be a mid-to-late first round selection in April, as the talented lineman’s efforts during the combine could quickly begin to work in Proctor’s favor during next month’s draft.
The 2026 NFL draft will take place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania starting on April 23, as each Crimson Tide star will look to shine throughout their rookie campaign in the NFL.
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Alabama
Husband, 19, fatally shot wife, 24, himself at Alabama hospital moments after welcoming their first child
A husband fatally shot his wife before turning the gun on himself at an Alabama hospital just moments after they welcomed their first child on Sunday.
Kynath Terry Jr., 19, gunned down 24-year-old Precious Johnson before fatally shooting himself inside the Baptist Health Brookwood Hospital around 9:30 p.m. Sunday night, WTVM 13 reported.
Johnson delivered a healthy baby just before she was murdered. It’s not immediately clear if the baby was present during the shooting, but police said that Terry and Johnson were the only ones injured.
Terry’s mother told the outlet that the couple were having some marital issues leading up to Johnson’s due date, but nothing that made her fear her son would become violent.
She told the outlet that Terry completed Army National Guard training before tying the knot with Johnson.
She noted that Johnson didn’t want Terry’s side of the family at the hospital for her child’s birth, but it’s unclear if anyone from the mother-to-be’s own family was there.
The hospital was plunged into a lockdown “out of an abundance of caution” while police investigated reports of a shooting. It wasn’t lifted until hours later when they determined there was “no active threat to patients, team members or the public,” the outlet reported.
The Homewood Police Department described the tragedy as “an apparent murder-suicide and is domestic in nature.”
Danne Howard, the president of the Alabama Hospital Association, told the outlet that the chilling attack “was an isolated incident” unlike anything she’d encountered during her three decades working in the state.
Howard said, in the wake of the tragedy, the Baptist Health Brookwood Hospital would undergo a security overhaul implementing “lessons learned” from a mandated after-action report.
Just three months ago, in a town six miles outside of Homewood, a beloved sports reporter was fatally shot by her husband before taking his own life. Their 3-year-old son, who was unharmed, led his grandfather to his parents’ bodies.
Alabama
Air Force base security tightens, AL reacts after attacks in Iran
Hegseth on Iran: ‘This is not Iraq. This is not endless.’
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said operations on Iran won’t be “endless” like Iraq.
The United States and Israel-led attacks on Iran are having an impact in Central Alabama.
The military actions that began Saturday targets the military forces of Iran and the nation’s ability to build nuclear weapons.
In Montgomery, Maxwell Air Force Base and Gunter Annex have stepped up security so that all entry points will have a 100 percent ID check, the bases said on social media. The Trusted Traveler Program is suspended, which allowed Department of Defense identification holders to vouch for passengers.
Visitors without base access will have to go through the visitor center to get a pass.
Central Alabama residents react to the Iran attacks
For Travis Jackson of Montgomery, the attacks bring back memories, bad memories. He served one tour in Iraq from 2007-2008 with the U.S. Army. He attained the rank of sergeant before leaving the service and has worked the last 10 years as a community activist and diversity, equality and inclusion coordinator.
“I had a flashback of being overseas again,” he said when he first heard news of the attack. “The first thing I thought of was corporate greed. Of yet again seeing what has transpired throughout the years of any war overseas.”
He feels the attacks are a mistake.
“It’s going to be detrimental to the economy, notably with the increase in oil prices,” he said.
Removing the current regime in Iran and establishing a more western friendly country could improve hopes for a more stable Middle East, said Amy Stephens of Elmore County.
“I don’t know if there will ever be peace there,” Stephens said. “But Iran has been the causing trouble over there for almost 50 years.”
Ray Roberts of Prattville served in Operation Desert Shield/Storm in 1990 and 1991 after Iraq invaded Kuwait. He served in an ordinance company with the Alabama Army National Guard. He was a sergeant when he left the service and now works as a draftsman at a Montgomery manufacturing plant.
“It wasn’t a surprise,” Roberts said of the attacks. “President Trump had said they were coming. When he says something like that, he means it. I am glad we are working with Israel so it’s not just the United States. I wonder if Europe and some of the other Gulf nations will join the attacks.”
Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Marty Roney at mroney@gannett.com. To support his work, please subscribe to the Montgomery Advertiser.
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