Kalen DeBoer Explains Alabama’s New A-Day Format

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — For years, Alabama’s annual spring game featured a matchup between the Crimson team and the White team. But in Kalen DeBoer’s first season, the new Crimson Tide head coach is switching things up.

Instead of Crimson vs. White, it will be offense vs. defense without pre-divided teams. DeBeor explained his reasoning during Thursday evening’s press conference.

“I like to look at as practice No. 15,” DeBoer said. “We’ll see a lot of great 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 get down to the bare bones of really trying to play 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.”

Much to the delight of the players, not all spring game traditions are going away. Even though the scoring and team divisions will be a little different, there will still be a “winner” and “loser” on A-Day with both sides being able to score points with the score being kept on the field. And DeBoer plans on upholding the tradition of the steak and beans dinner with steak and all the fixings for the winners, and beans and hot dogs for the losers.

“There’s traditions that the guys bring up that have certainly been important, that they feel strong about,” DeBoer said. “I’m still learning some of those, things that maybe haven’t 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.”

In Nick Saban’s first A-Day at Alabama in the spring of 2007, more than 90,000 fans filled out Bryant-Denny Stadium, and DeBoer hopes to see a similar environment this weekend when the Crimson Tide takes the field at 3 p.m. for the annual spring scrimmage.

“Excited to see a packed stadium there and looking forward to seeing everyone come and support our program.”