Alabama Football Spring Practice Report- April 8

Practice observations and footage as the Crimson Tide enters the final week of spring practice.

Ty Simpson and Keelon Russell at Alabama football's Tuesday practice | Katie Windham, BamaCentral

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— Alabama football was back on the Thomas-Drew Practice Fields on an usually chilly, but sunny April morning.

The media got to view about 15 minutes of Tuesday morning's practice as the Crimson Tide is in its final week of spring camp. Here are some of BamaCentral's practice notes and observations:

Practice Notes- April 8, 2025

• Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer said after Alabama's second scrimmage that star wide receiver Ryan Williams "might not do much" for the rest of the spring. At least during the media viewing period, Williams did not participate in drills with the rest of the wide receivers and was instead riding the exercise bike off to the side. Offensive lineman Geno VanDeMark and wide receiver Cole Adams were also on the bikes. All three were wearing Crimson jerseys instead of the black no-contact, so they may practice some when the media isn't watching.

• Fatutoa Henry and James Smith were both wearing black jerseys, but were participating in defensive drills.

• Defensive backs coach Maurice Linguist has no problems getting down and demonstraing drills himself for his position group. Later in the viewing period, the DBs were doing a drill focused on high-pointing the football. Sophomore Dre Kirkpatrick Jr. got yelled at for not doing it correctly right after the drill had been explained.

Alabama defensive backs coach Maurice Linguist demonstrates a drill | Katie Windham, BamaCentral

• The injuries have now spread to the coaches. Wide receivers coach JaMarcus Shephard was seen wearing a walking boot at practice; however, that didn't limit his enthusiasm or coaching abilities at all. "That's a sh**** drop stop. Drop step like you're supposed to." He yelled once during a technical drill for the wide receivers.

• Overall, the coaches all across the practice field seemed very locked in on technique today and making sure guys were doing things the right way.

• Alabama was rotating all of the quarterbacks through each drill, but in general, it seemed like redshirt quarterback Ty Simpson was leading most of them. He made a couple nice throws to Miami transfer Isaiah Horton.

• With Williams out, it seemed like Horton was leading the wide receivers through drills.

• The Wolf position worked on pass drill that involved backing up and hitting multiple spots to intercept the ball.

• Defensive coordinator Kane Wommack and Linguist worked with DBs/safeties on open field tackling drill. Kane yelled at one point after a missed tackle. Wommack yelled after a missed tackle, "Get your ass back. Quit f***** guessing. You’d give up a f**** touchdown."

Alabama defensive coordinator Kane Wommack during Tuesday's practice | Katie Windham, BamaCentral

• Freshman Ivan Taylor was one player who messed up that open field tackling drill, and Wommack spoke with him individually at the end of the drill.

• Because there are so many injuries this spring, it's giving a lot of young guys the opportunity to get a lot of reps, which could help Alabama in the long run. It also might prevent some guys from hopping in the transfer portal when the spring window opens because they're not really sure where they stand anyway and could have a better shot of getting on the field this fall.

• The early enrollees got a ton of action at DB and ILB. Obviously, this is due to injuries to veterans keeping them out of spring practice, but it was rather jarring to see Dijon Lee working as the second corner along with Cam Calhoun. Lee is huge–– by far the biggest DB in the group, but Calhoun has nice length too and looks athletic. Additionally without Deontae Lawson or Justin Jefferson, the ILB group looks very undersized