Alabama

Kalen DeBoer says kicker Graham Nicholson has found his rhythm at Alabama

Published

1 month ago

November 21, 2024

Kalen DeBoer says kicker Graham Nicholson has found his rhythm at Alabama

Kalen DeBoer calls them “gimmie kicks.” The head coach’s philosophy has always been to give his kickers as many opportunities from short-distance attempts early in the season in order to get them in a rhythm and build up their confidence.

That’s the plan anyway. Alabama’s big-play offense prevented that transition for Miami-Ohio transfer Graham Nicholson in his first season with the Crimson Tide this year.

Nicholson, who earned the Lou Groza Award last season, didn’t even attempt a field goal in Alabama’s first two games. He pushed his first attempt wide right from 46 yards out at Wisconsin in Week 3. After hitting a 28-yarder against Georgia two weeks later, he didn’t get another attempt until the Week 8 loss against Tennessee, where he went 1 of 2, coming up short on a 54-yard try before hitting the target from 35 yards out.

Since then Nicholson has been perfect, connecting on two field goals against Missouri as well as one last week against Mercer. Now it seems like the graduate kicker is finally finding his rhythm.

“Getting that first one is hard, and it took him a long time to get that first opportunity,” DeBoer said of Nicholson during his weekly radio show on Wednesday night. “It isn’t his fault. We were just scoring touchdowns and the opportunities didn’t present themselves the same way.

“He has been just steady since Day 1. We see him every day in practice. I think he’s getting more and more comfortable in our stadium in particular.”

DeBoer called the two kicks Nicholson made a Missouri “critical to Alabama’s 34-0 win over the Tigers. The first of which came from a season-long 47 yards out as the kicker helped the Tide put points on the board to cap off the game’s opening possession. From there, Nicholson helped a struggling Alabama offense get some momentum by hitting a 39-yarder to put the Tide up 6-0 late in the second quarter.

“Thought [the 47-yarder] was a big kick for us right there to get three points on the board,” DeBoer said. “And then he came back and did it again.”

While kicking isn’t DeBoer’s expertise, he said he still makes an effort to monitor his kicker’s reps during practice in order to get a good feel of what affects them and what went wrong during misses.

“A kicker might miss a kick in practice, and if you really weren’t paying attention, you might just think it was him,” DeBoer explained. “Well, it might have been the snap or the hold or something else. There’s other moving parts to that part. It might not solely fall on the kicker missing in practice, and you can quickly some thoughts about, ‘Well, he’s not in his groove right now,’ when really there were other factors that played a role in it.”

As for Nicholson, DeBoer believes he’s finally found his rhythm and should be able to return to his award-winning form to close out the season.

“He’s mentally strong,” DeBoer said. “He’s got a lot that he’s done in the past that he goes back to that gives him the confidence he has. You still got a new place and you gotta kind of reprove yourself. He’s done a good job of doing that.”

Last season, Nicholson made 27 of 28 field-goal attempts and 35 of 37 extra-point tries. That included an NCAA-record streak of 25 straight made field goals. Through 10 games at Alabama, he is 5 of 7 on field goals and has made all 48 of his extra-point tries.

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Alabama

South Alabama adds Samford wide receiver transfer Brendan Jenkins for 2025

Published

7 hours ago

December 25, 2024

Press Room

South Alabama adds Samford wide receiver transfer Brendan Jenkins for 2025

South Alabama on Wednesday picked up its first transfer portal commitment of the current cycle, from former Samford wide receiver Brendan Jenkins.

The 6-foot-1, 200-pound Jenkins caught 89 passes for 888 yards and seven touchdowns in two seasons with the Bulldogs, and was Southern Conference Freshman of the Year in 2023. A native of Hochston, Ga., he has two seasons of eligibility remaining.

South Alabama has a major need at receiver, with four seniors among its top five pass-catchers in 2024. First-team All-Sun Belt selection Jamaal Pritchett has used up his eligibility, as have Salute to Veterans Bowl Most Valuable Player Jeremiah Webb, tight end DJ Thomas-Jones and No. 4 receiver Shamar Sandgren (though it’s now possible Sandgren could return next season after a recent NCAA ruling involving former junior-college transfers).

Devin Voisin, who caught 34 passes this past season, is expected to return for a seventh year at South Alabama in 2025 after receiving a medical redshirt following an early-season knee injury in 2023. Also eligible to return are Anthony Eager (10 catches, 2 TDs as a redshirt freshman in 2024), program veteran Keyshawn Woodyard and a host of less-experienced receivers including Micah Woods, Noah Toster, Jeremy Scott and Jerrian Graham.

South Alabama is expected to add a number of other portal transfers before spring semester classes begin on Jan. 13. The transfer portal closes for new entries on Dec. 28, though a player already in the portal by then may commit to or sign with his new school at any time.

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Alabama

2024 Alabama High School Back and Lineman of the Year Finalists

Published

16 hours ago

December 25, 2024

Press Room

2024 Alabama High School Back and Lineman of the Year Finalists

Winners, Super All-State and Mr. Football to be revealed Jan. 28 at a luncheon banquet at the Montgomery Renaissance.

Class 7A

Back of the year
Anquon Fegans, Thompson
Trent Seaborn, Thompson
Daylyn Upshaw, Central-Phenix City

Lineman of the year
Malik Autry, Opelika
Zion Grady, Enterprise
Jared Smith, Thompson

Class 6A

Back of the year
Corey Barber, Spain Park
KJ Lacey, Saraland
Na’eem Offord, Parker

Lineman of the year
Keenan Britt, Oxford
Jourdin Crawford, Parker
Anthony Jones, St. Paul’s

Class 5A

Back of the year
Conner Nelson, Leeds
Cam Phinizee, Russellville
Jotavion Pierce, Catholic-Montgomery

Lineman of the year
Jabarrius Garrar, Vigor
Kentonio Kelly Jr., Vigor
Ellis McGaskin, Williamson

Class 4A

Back of the year
EJ Crowell, Jackson
Landon Duckworth, Jackson
Gunner Rivers, St. Michael

Lineman of the year
Tristan Brown, Cherokee Co.
Tae Diamond, Cherokee Co.
AJ Rice, Madison Academy

Class 3A

Back of the year
Caden Chandler, Mars Hill Bible
Kadyn Mitchell, Houston Academy
Rollie Pinto, Piedmont

Lineman of the year
Myles Johnson, T.R. Miller
Billy Neill, Bayside Academy
Tucker Wilks, Fyffe

Class 2A

Back of the year
Chris Clemons, Winston Co.
Luke Gilbert, Pisgah
Preston Lancaster, Tuscaloosa Aca.

Lineman of the year
JJ Faulk, Highland Home
Clete O’Bryant, Coosa Christian
Grayson Gulde, Vincent

Class 1A

Back of the year
Alvin Henderson, Elba
Ziquayvion Jackson, McKenzie
Jaquez Wilkes, Wadley

Lineman of the year
Fred Curry, Georgiana
Hayes Farrell, Donoho
Tim Parnell, Leroy

AISA

Back of the year
Julian Curry, Wilcox Academy
Gerrell Perry, Banks Academy
Luke Tarver, Chambers Academy

Lineman of the year
Jackson Boykin, South Choctaw Academy
Ashton Yelder, Lowndes Academy
Asher Young, Fort Dale Academy

The Alabama Sports Writers Association is a professional organization for sports writers and editors throughout the state, or any person involved in disseminating sports information or publicity in Alabama including but not limited to sports information personnel, publicists of professional organizations or facilities, or publicists of non-profit organizations sponsoring or governing sporting events. The ASWA is a non-profit organization.

The ASWA prep committee’s primary responsibilities include conducting regular top-10 rankings of a variety of high school sports, and select all-state teams in those sports as well. The committee will determine the winner of a variety of annual awards including the annual Mr. Football winner, and the Jimmy Smothers Courage Award. For more information, check out: ASWA

See Also 2024 Alabama High School All-State Football Selections

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Alabama

3 former Alabama high school stars return to NFL rosters

Published

1 day ago

December 25, 2024

Press Room

3 former Alabama high school stars return to NFL rosters

Three Alabama high school alumni will wake up on Christmas morning on NFL rosters after starting Christmas eve out of the league.

On Tuesday, the Buffalo Bills signed linebacker Nicholas Morrow (Huntsville High School) to their active roster, the Atlanta Falcons signed linebacker Rashaan Evans (Auburn High School, Alabama) to their practice squad and the Miami Dolphins signed defensive tackle Neil Farrell Jr. (Murphy High School) to their practice squad.

Each of the players rejoined a team they had played for this season.

An eight-year veteran with 105 NFL regular-season games and 58 starts in his career, Morrow played in 11 games for Buffalo before the Bills released him on Dec. 7.

A seven-year veteran with 87 NFL regular-season games and 68 starts in his career, Evans played in two games for Atlanta before being waived on Saturday. This is the third time the Falcons have signed Evans for their practice squad this season. He joined the team on Oct. 1, was released on Oct. 12, re-signed on Oct. 21 and moved up to the active roster on Nov. 1.

A three-year veteran with 19 NFL regular-season games in his career, Farrell played in seven games for Miami before being waived on Saturday. Farrell joined the Dolphins’ practice squad on Sept. 26 and moved up to the active roster on Nov. 11.

FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.

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