Alabama Players Praise Position Coaches at SEC Media Days

When Alabama was good for so many years, Nick Saban got all the credit for it. Similarly, when Alabama struggled, Nick Saban shouldered the blame. The same can be said for Kalen DeBoer last season. When Alabama defeated Georgia, Kalen DeBoer got credit. When he lost to Oklahoma, he shouldered the blame.

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Assistant coaching is a thankless job. If your unit has success, you get no credit. If your unit struggles, you get fired. Yet on Wednesday, at SEC Media Days, Alabama's players used their time in the spotlight to highlight their position coaches.

"Freddie Roach, he's amazing," defensive lineman Tim Keenan III said. "Especially from player to coach, just personality-wise. Like, you're going to get better. He's gonna get on your tail, now. Ain't no slacking, but it's all out of love. He wants you to have that generational wealth. He wants you to be the best player ever and be that dominant force. That's a coach that wants what's best for you. I thank God that he allowed Coach Roach to be my coach, and being an in-state guy too. He's from north Alabama, so it hits a little different when you got that 'Bama in you, and you're able to go play for your university."

"Exactly, just like you said. [Coach Kapilovic] calls us the juice squad," offensive lineman Kadyn Proctor said. "He gives us a challenge every week. The highest graded offensive player gets the "Juice Squad" chain, and whoever gets the most knockdowns, the most pancakes, gets the MDK chain. So that's something that we look forward to, and try to earn ourselves individually. That raises the level of play for the whole room."

"Coach Wommack, man. He's been good to me ever since he got here," linebacker Deontae Lawson said of defensive coordinator Kane Wommack. "Last year, he came in and talked about the linebackers are gonna produce the most. That makes a guy like me happy. Me and Jihaad [Campbell], I think we had a great year last year when we were able to produce and make plays. Coming from a defense where the safeties made the most plays and now the linebackers can make all the plays, it's definitely a great feeling. I'm feeling confident. I'm well past installing and things like that, so now I'm more focused on offensive recognition and things like that."

Pearl River Resort sponsors our coverage of SEC Media Days, live from Atlanta, Georgia. Check out Pearl River Resort at pearlriverresort.com.

Wyatt Fulton is the Tide 100.9 DME and Brand Manager, primarily covering Alabama Crimson Tide football and men's basketball. For more Crimson Tide coverage, follow Wyatt on X (Formerly known as Twitter) at @FultonW_.