BamaCentral writers discuss what they learned at the Crimson Tide's first open practice of the spring.
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00:00 Welcome into Bama Central's Just a Minute. I'm Blake Beiler joined by Katie Windham.
00:05 And Katie, yesterday we got to see the first thing, something we've seen for the first time in a long time,
00:11 with Alabama's spring practice getting open to the media.
00:15 I was on the way back from Florida covering Alabama basketball, but you got to go into the open media practice viewing,
00:21 got to see, how long were you there exactly?
00:24 About 20 minutes, probably. I actually forgot to look at my watch when we were going in and out.
00:29 But it was definitely longer than it used to be.
00:31 Yeah, about 20 minutes of practice. Haven't been able to do that since pre-COVID.
00:37 So Katie, based on what you got to see, you got to see a lot of work from all the different position groups,
00:42 a lot of the coaches, the energy they brought.
00:44 What was your biggest takeaway from the first media viewing of spring practice with Kaelin DeBoer now as the head coach
00:51 at Alabama, the new coaching staff, everything else that's new around this Alabama program?
00:56 Yeah, well, first of all, kind of on a personal note, the biggest takeaway is it's just nice to be there,
01:02 to see things again early in the spring, try and learn things about this team that we don't know much about,
01:08 because there's a lot of, obviously, turnover and transition.
01:11 But also, any media viewing period, especially one that's going to be not the whole practice,
01:17 you kind of have to take things with a grain of salt, because we're seeing what they want us to see in a way,
01:22 and also we can't see everything, because we're kind of limited to where we stand, the offense,
01:26 especially the quarterbacks and wide receivers are the farthest field away from us.
01:31 So sometimes it can be hard to see stuff.
01:34 But to me, the biggest surprise yesterday, which, once again, take it with a grain of salt,
01:39 because it's early in the spring as well, not only that you kind of see limited stuff,
01:44 but also how early in the spring it is, it's just their second practice.
01:47 But what's the first team offensive line?
01:50 The not surprising that was, of course, that the returning guards, Tyler Booker and Jane Roberts,
01:54 were kind of in their spots at left and right guard.
01:57 And Elijah Pridgett at left tackle wasn't super surprising either.
02:01 He kind of was going back and forth with Caden Proctor in that position early in the year last year.
02:05 But at right tackle, we saw Wilkin Formby, the redshirt freshman out of Tuscaloosa.
02:11 And then at center, a lot of people thought it would be the Washington transfer, Parker Bralesford,
02:14 but it was James Brockermeier.
02:17 And so it could be a thing that early in the year the coaching staff is giving the guys that have been
02:22 at Alabama a chance because Bralesford started at center for Washington 13 games last year.
02:28 He started 15 games total along the offensive line.
02:31 I would assume he didn't transfer here to be a backup.
02:33 But, you know, that's the thing about spring is you have position battles,
02:36 and guys get the chance to prove their worth.
02:38 And so it will be interesting to see by A-Day if that's still the five offensive line with the ones.
02:45 But then, you know, just kind of another big overall takeaway would be, like, changes are evident.
02:51 Like, the way they're running practice as far as like even, you know, the way they're spread out,
02:56 kind of the music is a big change.
02:58 A lot of the players talked about having music at practice.
03:01 There's maybe a little bit more of laid back is probably not the right word because they're still out there
03:07 working hard and being worked hard, but maybe a little bit more upbeat, not as businesslike.
03:12 Saban was very particular.
03:14 You know, he had the process, the process that he is known for.
03:17 And so I think there's a lot of positive changes, and it was fun.
03:21 So, you know, some of those changes were getting to be at practice
03:23 and then getting to talk to defensive coaches and the players right after they got done with practice,
03:28 which going back to kind of the scrum style media and set up at the podium makes, I think,
03:33 the players a lot more comfortable, helps us get a lot better answers
03:36 and hopefully tell a lot better stories as we continue to go through this spring.
03:41 Yeah, those are some very interesting points for sure.
03:43 A lot of new things.
03:44 I'm interested to see by the end of spring practice if some of these new players,
03:49 some of these new transfers are able to potentially take some starting spots, so to speak.
03:55 But obviously there are more freshman guys that are going to come in in the summer.
03:59 There's still a spring transfer portal window.
04:01 So this is far from the finished product of what the team and even the roster will look like by the time August rolls around
04:08 and we get to fall practice.
04:11 But as spring practice continues, we will have all your coverage right here on Bama Central.
04:15 I think the next open media viewing is in two weeks,
04:19 so we'll be sure to have you covered on all of that as well as all the interviews we get.
04:24 But until then, this has been Bama Central's Just a Minute.
04:27 Thank you so much for watching.
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