Why Alabama Football is Changing the A-Day Format

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Alabama football closed down its third week of spring practice with the first scrimmage of the spring season on Thursday. The Crimson Tide has seven more practice periods remaining to set the foundation and improve ahead of the 2025 season with two mores scrimmages included. However, unlike years past the final scrimmage won't come in front of fans at A-Day, but instead a day or two before.

Head coach Kalen DeBoer addressed his practice schedule to begin his Thursday press conference, outlining the difficulty managing different position groups repetitions, considering injury statuses and experience factors.

"Held out a few guys beyond the injuries that have been from the beginning, a couple guys that got a few nicks, just giving more opportunity for some young guys to go out there and show us what they got," DeBoer said. "We'll have a scrimmage next Friday again. And then we scrimmage, we scrimmage multiple times whenever we put full pads on, so it's controlled. We'll do that a couple times next week with the big one on Friday. And then we get into the final week leading up to A-Day, and we'll have a scrimmage there on Thursday, actually, before the Saturday A-Day. And we'd just like to be controlled, again, just got some number issues at a couple positions."

Fans may have been disappointed on Wednesday when the Crimson Tide program announced A-Day would be altered for a second straight season. On April 12 Bryant-Denny Stadium will still host the final workout of the spring season, free to fans, but there won't be a traditional scoreboard or game-like presentation.

"Yeah, we'll have just more of a practice, full, full practice, like we would have any day, and just again allows us, kind of what I referred to earlier, be able to have a controlled setting, control, just the reps that certain guys get," DeBoer said. "We understand the significance, and we know everyone loves football here, and so we want to give that day and make it available. And, show off our guys, and our guys go do their thing. I can't even say it's really to me not about the portal concern that I know everyone makes it out to be. It's just that, we're really careful out there. We ran a lot of reps, but we were very specific. And sometimes, you almost had to stop things to get the right groups of people, match ups and things like that, to have a quality rep for all 22 guys that are on the football field. And that practice type environment is something that I think best accomplishes both the things for the fans that we want to do with the A-day, and also for our football team to utilize a practice 15 and continue to get better.

DeBoer continued discussing the spring finale, emphasizing the exhilarating experience of running into Bryant-Denny Stadium with fans for incoming players.

"I think it's really important for our guys to get in front of fans. I remember a year ago when we came out some of these, you know, this year we got 18 new freshmen, and then we also have some transfers that are here, and this is their first time in Bryant Denny, with people. So I think that's a huge benefit for us. Remember seeing some guys a little bit like, wow, eyes wide open. And so that's a huge benefit for us, because really, throughout the fall, in fall camp, we won't experience that to the extent like we will here in a couple weeks. So, and then also just some time, from a fan appreciation standpoint, where the people can get up close to our to our guys, see, hopefully their role models up close, get a signature, picture, things like that."

The Colorado Buffalos have floated ideas of utilizing spring practice like the NFL and pairing up with another college for a handful of sessions, culminating in a spring scrimmage. Unfortunately, for fans hoping to see the Crimson Tide follow suit and welcome a different college to Tuscaloosa for a spring game, it sounds like DeBoer wasn't keen on the idea.

"If we couldn't do our scrimmage, and I guess might be a little easier when you just worry about one side of the ball at that time, but to me, if we were concerned about the reps amongst ourselves at this point, like this year, I definitely wouldn't be, wanting to have that type of scrimmage. I think every program can do what they want to do. And, to me, it's about us making ourselves [better].

"But I think there are some things, like with the NFL has their times during fall camp, they might go specifically to a team that gives them certain fronts and coverages or a certain style of offense that they maybe won't see, much from their own team during their preparation and fall camp, or OTAs, or whatever it might be. So, there's benefits to that. I've thought about that, when you would do that is a little bit up in the air. And, just we'll continue to evolve. We'll continue to adjust. So the answer I gave you right now might not be the same answer I give you down the road, as we as we develop, but I think we're still recovering from a little bit. I mean, all these injuries that are happening, a lot of was from last season, for the most part. And so this is where we're at right now, but it's also the positive, and that's the way we're always going to look at it, is there's a lot of young guys that are getting a ton of reps, being put it, being put in uncomfortable positions, and that's good. That's how the greatest, that's how the growth happens."