Happy Gump Day: Keon Keeley is poised to break out at defensive end

First up, practice notes.

And this piece, in particular, attracted my attention, since the DL was so shaky in Spring (particularly against the rush):

Consistency has been the word of Alabama football’s preseason camp. If you ask coach Kalen DeBoer, nobody embodied it better early than the defensive line.

“I think that position group has been the most consistent,” DeBoer said Sunday. “I like where they’re at.”

He saw it defend the run well and put pressure on the quarterback consistently.

“They’re just around, making the quarterback back there have to move around and make some plays,” DeBoer said.

More at the link below, with a particular emphasis on the defensive line and Bandit positions.

Some things don’t change. Least of all the Script A

Tell ‘em, Domani.

Keon Keeley has put on almost 30 pounds, moved to defensive end, and looks like a player ready to unleash hell

Keon Keeley is another Bandit option on the roster. The coaching staff moved him from outside linebacker to Bandit in the spring because “as you see what Keon is developing into and may develop into at the next level, that’s more of a better fit for him,” Wommack said Tuesday.

It’s been a process for Keeley to move to Bandit. That process could be seen through the individual drills. Several moments throughout the viewing period, Roach took a moment to instruct and coach up Keeley on technique.

Roach on Keeley: “Like I told him, ‘You just focus on what it’s going to take you to be successful, alright?’ And at that point it’s his eyes, his hand placement, his footwork, ‘What do I have on assignments?’ And that’s every guy in the room, not just Keon.”

It’s clear the potential is there for Keeley, the former five-star recruit in the 2023 class. He was the No. 2 prospect in the entire class, per the 247Sports Composite. Roach will just need to continue helping Keeley develop and become more comfortable in his new position.

If he kept his speed and agility at 277, he’s going to be unblockable. This is not a fat 277 either.

If there is anyone on this staff who could be considered a madman, it’s undoubtedly defensive coordinator Kane Wommack.

“I think probably one of the greatest things about Coach DeBoer is — it’s never too high and it’s never too low,” Wommack said. “In the midst of chaos or adversity — I’ve been in those moments, I’ve been in the foxhole with him — I’ve seen how his calming presence just really transcends to the rest of the football team.”

And as a former head coach at South Alabama, Wommack knows building a coaching staff means balancing personality types to reach players in different ways.

“When you think about it from a head-coaching perspective, the way you want to build a staff is you don’t want all the same personalities and you don’t want yes-men,” he said. “You want people that are complementary to who you are as the head coach, but they also can lean into your vision and they can accomplish your vision through their personality. And I think that’s something that has come very natural for Kalen and I.”

Keenan, too, appreciates the mix of personalities in DeBoer and Wommack.

“You need that,” Keenan said. “If Coach [DeBoer] is gonna be laid back, you got to have somebody that’s gonna be that firecracker. Coach Wommack, he’s always gonna bring that juice.”

But Saban energy, pacing the practice fields in a straw hat and breathing fire? Not quite.

“Coach Saban is like no other,” Keenan said. “Coach Saban will get that walk, lock eyes on you and get that tunnel vision. Yeah…”

The DC position always attracts the more energetic sorts out there, some are even mental — from Buddy Ryan to Charles Kelly to Nick Saban, if there’s some red-faced jumping and fussing on the sideline, it is almost always coming from a defensive coach. It makes sense, I suppose. Playing defense is unnatural, as everyone who has done so knows. You have to put the brain in neutral and force the body to do what does not come naturally: throw itself into harm’s way for the pure ever ever-loving joy of pain itself. You have to want to hurt someone more than your body fears the pain.

And, despite what you may think you see on television every week, it hurts a lot more to tackle than it does to be tackled. That kind of coaching is always going to require a hype man.

I have to confess, as refreshing as it has been to have so much information coming out of camp, it is disturbing in equal measure because DeBoer is just so…chill. This is probably an age thing, but I’ve not met a whole lot of head coaches who try to affect zen-like calm on the sideline as he does.

Will Alabama football survive without ass-chewings?!
Find out in 24 days!

WHOOOOO!!!!

Almost half of the field for tonight’s 400M relay represent the Crimson Tide: 3 of 8 lanes will be taken by ‘Bammers.

Man, Dan Waters is sooooo gone. I simply don’t know how Alabama can or will afford to keep him after building up a burgeoning powerhouse at a non-track school, and pumping out world-class Olympians.

That’s a worry for another day. For now, let’s celebrate the Tide and see what they can do tonight for their home countries.

Which brings me to a full-throated defense of former Alabama great Marlon Humphrey, who stepped in it by commenting on this Chiles/Biles bow during the Olympics.

It’s everything, alright. Everything awful.

The Baltimore Ravens veteran cornerback actually called the two U.S. Olympic gymnasts’ actions “literally disgusting” on a social media post. Humphrey later acknowledged that his comment was not going over well.

“I’m lowkey getting cooked right now,” Humphrey wrote. “I think I’m getting cussed out in Brazilian on Instagram lol”

I’m gonna’ have to stand with Hump on this one.

We are Americans; we don’t bow to anyone, even in jest. And, as representatives of this grand federal republic, we especially should not bow to avatars of jungle hellholes with a history of military coups, clear-cutting the Amazon to feed the CCP, and presently helmed by a literal communist who simps for imperial projects of conquest across the globe.

F’ Brazil.
Humphrey was right.
And you know how the US could have prevented all of this? By not finishing second and third…SMH.

This is a game-changer (quite literally). The SEC is very strongly considering (read: almost certainly will adopt) a mandatory injury report.

Is it one more data point in the enshittification of college football? Probably.

Is it also necessary owing to the positive surfeit of gambling irregularities that have exploded since the deregulation online gaming? Absolutely so.

There have been so many sketch plays, “injuries” and holdouts in the last half-decade, that had this occurred in the NFL, the FBI would have been snooping around long ago.

There is cheating going on for the benefit of Vegas. And there is a lot of it. This won’t fix all of CFB’s corruption issues, but it will put curbs on coaching staffs, constrain some behaviors of bad faith actors, and at least remove one aspect of uncertainty and switcheroos that are making a few insiders a lot of dirty money.

So why did Keon Sabb transfer to Alabama? The first is obvious: There was an opening; every quality safety in the country that couldn’t be bought was eyeballing that thin roster.

The second is a bit of a surprise: So many existing contacts on the team: There’s a couple of connections that tied Sabb to Alabama. For one, he reunited with Courtney Morgan, the Crimson Tide’s general manager who held similar roles at both Michigan and Washington. Morgan played a role in recruiting Sabb to Ann Arbor.

Sabb was a blue-chipper out of high school, the No. 96 overall prospect in the 2022 class, according to 247Sports. He’s originally from New Jersey but spent his senior season at IMG Academy in Florida — same as both Tyler Booker and Jihaad Campbell.

“There’s guys that I’ve been with through high school and some different coaches that I met along the way,” Sabb said. “It made my transition really easy. Once I got here, I felt like home.”

In Alabama, Sabb saw another program with a championship pedigree. Even despite Nick Saban’s sudden retirement in January, he believes the program will maintain a culture of excellence under DeBoer.

Alabama also provided Sabb with opportunity. The Tide’s secondary experienced a turbulent offseason. Three of last year’s starters, Kool-Aid McKinstry, Terrion Arnold, and Jaylen Key, are all now in the NFL. A fourth, Caleb Downs, transferred to Ohio State following Saban’s retirement. In all, 10 defensive backs transferred out.

We often forget that these prep kids may go to Alabama and Ohio State and Texas, but in many cases, they grew up with and have been competing against one another for half a dozen years.

It’s an elite, tiny fraternity.

But what happens when you don’t go to a school with that family already built-in? Well, you create your own, as did new Tide corners Domani Jackson and Zabien Brown:

The Alabama Crimson Tide added a pair of defensive backs this offseason, Domani Jackson and Zabien Brown. The pair have a strong relationship, and it’s one that should help them together now that they’re at Alabama together.

While speaking to the media during Fall Camp, Jackson opened up on his relationship with Brown, comparing him to a little brother.

“Most definitely,” Domani Jackson said. “Going to high school and then trying to get him at the other school. Now, him, obviously, committing here and me coming here has been great for us. Our bond is like no other. He’s like my little brother.”

On the subject of Zabien, who is competing for a starting job, Brown has been limited by injury and is on “a pitch count.”

“He’s limited,” Wommack said. “He’s on a bit of a pitch count and stuff right now. We expect him to be fully back and going in the next couple of days here.”

Brown is one of several corners competing for playing time with the top three corners from a season ago, Terrion Arnold, Kool-Aid McKinstry and Trey Amos, all gone. Brown started the A-Day game opposite Domani Jackson at cornerback, and Brown has drawn positive reviews so far.

“Zabien was so impressive to me coming right off the jump,” Wommack said. “To walk out of high school early as a mid year enrollee then to be able to play the way he has been playing from the spring time.”

Oh, Jim. Never change.

“No one’s perfect. If you stumble, you apologize and you make it right. Today, I do not apologize. I did not participate, was not aware nor complicit in those said allegations. So for me, it’s back to work and attacking with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind.”

Per the notice of allegations, Harbaugh is accused of not cooperating with the NCAA’s investigation because he didn’t allow the organization to review records from his personal cell phone. Harbaugh could face a show-cause penalty if he returns to coaching in the college ranks.

If only we had some sort of evidence.

Oh.

And, finally, we leave you with Derrick Henry 2.0 in his larval form. Coming to a campus near you in about a dozen years…

Some of the comments are amazing too.

We’ll be back with some more stuff later. Have a great day. Roll Tide, and wish me happy birthday below — I accept all manner of easily smuggled and/or laundered assets (precious metal bullion, LLCs of an improvident nature chartered in the Seychelles, loose gemstones, deeds to sketchy properties in Vancouver). The fact I’m banging this out for you animals on my natal day is a testament to this site’s dedication.