It’s a good thing that Alabama practices on Sundays during the season, because more football was a needed distraction for the program from the fan reaction that flooded social media the day after a season-opening loss to Florida State.
Much of the criticism has been directed at Kalen DeBoer and his coaching staff, and given the showing in Tallahassee, much of that is warranted.
But keep in mind that college football has changed quite a bit since the last time Alabama’s leadership was questioned this intensely, and the sport has borrowed elements of the NFL model. That includes many schools in recent years hiring a general manager and growing their player personnel staffs, with Alabama among them.
If you’re going to bury DeBoer, defensive coordinator Kane Wommack and others on the coaching staff, it’s only fair to include general manager Courtney Morgan, director of player personnel Bob Welton and others on the personnel staff, too.
There is still a long way to go before college football general managers are on the level of their NFL counterparts, but the arrow is pointing sharply in that direction. Morgan has received two pay raises since his arrival last year, although his $825,000 salary this year is well short of the market-setting $1.5 million salary of North Carolina’s new general manager, Michael Lombardi.
NFL head coaches and general managers are often the subject of external debates about blame — and sometimes internal power struggles, too. As the pay and influence of college football general managers grow, so should those GMs’ place in public discourse when their teams win and lose.
Morgan landed on the plane with Kalen DeBoer in January 2024 and plays a key role in Alabama’s recruiting both of high school players and those from the transfer portal. He deserves credit for helping assemble a 2026 high school class that currently ranks No. 5 nationally in 247 Sports’ rankings.
It’s also fair to question Morgan and his staff for a 2025 transfer portal class that underwhelmed in its debut Saturday.
Alabama added 12 transfer portal players this past offseason, a class that ranked No. 21 by 247 Sports’ grading system. Two of those additions were walk-on tight ends in Peter Knudson (Weber State) and Jayden Hobson (South Alabama), and Hobson left the team during fall camp.
Of the remaining 10 players, arguably only three played significant roles in the season opener: left guard Kam Dewberry (Texas A&M), wide receiver Isaiah Horton (Miami) and punter Blake Doud (Colorado School of Mines).
Dewberry played every snap and, while not an obvious liability, was part of an offensive line that failed to get much push in the running game after the opening drive. Doud punted three times, including a touchback in the rain and a muffed 38-yarder. Horton played only 23 snaps with one catch for six yards, and entered the injury tent on the sideline at one point.
Cornerback Cam Calhoun (Utah) did not play any snaps on defense, although he contributed on special teams. Linebacker Nikhai Hill-Green (Colorado) played 24 snaps with three tackles and one missed tackle. Offensive tackle Arkel Anugwom (Ball State) did not make the trip as a third-team player.
At a position in defensive tackle where Alabama sorely needed veteran experience in the wake of Tim Keenan’s injury, the Tide has gotten a disappointing result so far from Florida transfer Kelby Collins. He was not among the five defensive tackles listed on the Week 1 depth chart, and the junior was effectively the sixth defensive tackle to see the field Saturday while playing only three snaps. Alabama decided a three-star freshman who enrolled this summer in London Simmons was a better option, as was redshirt freshman Isaia Faga, redshirt freshman Jeremiah Beaman and redshirt sophomore Edric Hill.
Alabama added two tight ends through the portal in the spring in Troy’s Brody Dalton, a redshirt senior with more than 20 games of FBS playing experience, and West Virginia’s Jack Sammarco. Dalton did not see the field Saturday and Sammarco did not make the trip after not being listed as one of the six tight ends on the depth chart. Instead, summer-enrolled freshman Kaleb Edwards saw 18 snaps at tight end after being listed as third on the depth chart behind Danny Lewis, who was injured and did not play, and Jay Lindsey.
And at running back, where Alabama was missing Jam Miller because of a collarbone injury, one name was virtually missing in the rotation Saturday: Dre Washington. The Louisiana transfer was listed as an “OR” with Daniel Hill and Richard Young on the depth chart, but in reality Alabama split most of its snaps between Young, Hill and redshirt freshman Kevin Riley, with Washington playing only four snaps. Riley — who began fall camp fifth in his position room — was Alabama’s leading rusher with 31 yards.
DeBoer after the game pointed to players like Edwards and Simmons being pressed into early action because of injuries.
“I mean, at tight end Kaleb’s the next guy up,” DeBoer said. “It’s really what it’s about. So you got Josh and Danny’s been down again here the last a little bit. You know, do go through the depth chart, another ding or two in the tight end room that pulled some guys out for some plays. Some guys that have been out during camp, Marshall [Pritchett] a little bit limited. So that’s where we’re at the depth chart there.
“And so, yeah, there’s gonna be young guys. It’s the world we’re in right now. And so we got some older guys, and then all of a sudden there’s a gap, and younger guys got to step on the field and play. Yeah, we go down the depth chart further on the defensive tackle interior list. And London’s done some nice things as a freshman for us in practice, and some consistency there. We trust him. You got to go out there and get thrown to the wolves, whatever you want to call it — yeah, that was certainly the case. But that’s where we’re at in the rotation.”
Alabama was in that spot for its opener in Tallahassee in part because veteran transfers like Washington (a fifth-year senior), Collins (a junior) and Dalton (a fifth-year senior) were not deemed the best options to play. And it’s not just about the players that Alabama added in the portal — it’s also about the players it did not add, including those it could not successfully pursue and those it did not pursue.
That’s all part of the roles of the general manager and personnel department, and a growing part of college football these days. Just ask Florida State, which stocked both sides of the ball with 23 transfers and 247 Sports’ No. 6-ranked portal class. Or LSU, which won on the road at Clemson with 247 Sports’ No. 1-ranked portal class.
Alabama still has nine more games against power conference opponents this season, giving its transfers a chance to make an impact on a potential run to the College Football Playoff.
But each game in college football is important, and the conversation about Alabama’s opener is lacking something if it focuses solely on the coaching staff.
