Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer as well as defensive coordinator Kane Womack and offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb met with the media on Monday afternoon. Below are highlights of what they said.

The Crimson Tide lost road games against Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Texas A&M and Oklahoma. Alabama plays at FSU on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. (ABC).

Kalen DeBoer

(On if any players would be out aside from running back Jam Miller) “I would say (starting OL) Jaeden Roberts is still in question, just with what he's going through in the protocol and the process there. He's progressing so we'll kind of see here.”

(Alabama struggled on the road in 2024, what are the coaches emphasizing differently) “Just starting fast. You got to start fast. You dig yourself a hole on the road, it gets hard. The crowd gets behind the home team. Starting fast and giving yourself, not that you don’t have the belief but another level of momentum. As much as anything, taking it away from them especially in an environment that we know is going to be a good one down in Tallahassee.”

(On why Alabama will have just one full-time assistant coach in Grubb in the coaches’ booth) “Being on the field with our players is an important piece. As long as we’re getting the information that we need from up top, that’s important. The other element that gets added to this that changed a year ago is the iPads. We can see everything on the field. Maybe not in that moment. But we can understand why something happened – good, bad, ugly. Whatever it might be. And we can make those adjustments by seeing on video as good as anyone because it’s got both views, the wide and the end-zone shots.”

Kane Womack

(On offenses led by Gus Malzahn and Mike Norvell) “They present a number of challenges, Gus always has, Mike always has, in their offensive schemes. They present a number of challenges to you formationally, motions, quarterback run / 1+ element. And then their ability to go tempo with the run game presents a number of challenges for us.”

(On reviewing what Squirrel White did at Tennessee) “We’ve watched Squirrel a good bit in his time at Tennessee. Shifty player. Has some real speed. Can do a number of different things. Looking at Gus and his system and Mike and what they have done with players in that same personnel mold, I would imagine there is a number of things they can do with him and other guys that we anticipate on the field. You’re trying to anticipate based on a body of work from Gus and Mike and what these players have done from a personnel standpoint be it wherever they came from and try to get a feel for what they’re going to do.”

Ryan Grubb

(What he’s said to QB Ty Simpson about his first college start on Saturday) “Just play ball. Ty plays his best when he stays calm and collected just like any quarterback. As long as he stays within himself and doesn't try to make each play bigger than it is, he'll be just fine.”

(Without Miller, how Alabama’s tailbacks are preparing) “They've really embraced the next-man-up mentality. Exactly what you'd expect from a couple guys that have been here at Alabama for a couple of years. I don't think there's necessarily anything that's Earth shattering that they're doing, but they're excited about the opportunity.”

(On a new-look FSU defense) “I've been through this process a couple different times, different stops. Certainly there's a lot of moving parts there. Coach (Tony) White's a great coach. He's been at a lot of different places. Veteran guy, has a lot of presence with his guys. Certainly he's creative with his play calling, so you've got to dig. You got to go back to Syracuse, you've got to go all the way back, make sure you check everything out and try to realize how they'd utilize different people and personnel sets, put people in different spots. See the structure and the history of the defense and how it applies to the people we have now. You put together the best picture you can for the guys. Prepare them and understand you've got to have plays that can win vs. multiple fronts and multiple coverages.

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