Here is a more in-depth look at Alabama’s new offensive team led by Kalen DeBoer.
It looks like Kalen DeBoer has already put together his main offensive teaching team, just two days after being officially introduced as Alabama’s new head football coach.
Many of the five-person team are the same ones who helped Washington have one of the best attacks in the country for the past two years.
Ryan Grubb, the offensive assistant that Nick Saban tried to bring in last summer, is one of them.
The Huskies had one of the best attacks in the country during DeBoer’s two years as coach. At 462.1 yards per game, they were ranked No. 12 in the country in total offense.
At 36 points per game, they were ranked No. 13 in scoring offense. They were named No. 2 in the country in total offense (516.2 yards) as well as No. 7 in scoring (39.7 points) in 2022.
DeBoer is also keeping Robert Gillespie, who taught Alabama’s running backs under Saban, and Tommy Rees, who was the offensive coordinator. Gillespie has worked at Alabama since 2021 as well as is connected to the SEC.
From 1998 to 2001, he played for Florida. From 2005 to 2008, he was a teacher at South Carolina, and from 2013 to 2017, he was in Tennessee.
DeBoer said on Saturday, “I always believe that you build around your coordinators.” “I understand there needed to be some SEC ties and some Southeast links that can help fill in the divide between maybe my experiences here,” he said.
DeBoer made sure to hire people quickly so that he and his team could work to keep as many of Alabama’s bright prospects as possible.
Since DeBoer used to be an offensive coach, it made sense for him to start with that side with the ball.
When DeBoer brought Grubb on as offensive coordinator for Washington, it was the first thing he said about his team. At each of DeBoer’s stops as a head coach—Sioux Falls, Fresno State, Washington, and currently Alabama—they’ve been together.
The Iowa native, who is 47 years old, is one of the best offensive teachers in the business. He and DeBoer changed everything about Washington’s attack and made it a monster.
Grubb was also the quarterbacks coach, which meant that he worked directly with Michael Penix Jr., who was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy.
During his career, he has coached all parts of the attack. At South Dakota State, he coached running backs and receivers. At Sioux Falls, he was in charge of the offensive line and the run game.
At Eastern Michigan as well as Fresno State, he coached the offensive line, and then at Fresno State and Washington, he was the coordinator.
The only offensive staff member from Alabama’s 2023 team who is still there. The 44-year-old from Mississippi has been in the Crimson Tide since January 2021, when he took over for Charles Huff. He has helped more than 10 NFL backs who run get better.
Gillespie is known for how well he recruits, and he has a lot of ties to the SEC. He played at Florida and taught at both South Carolina as well as Tennessee. Grubb has a lot of experience.
He has recently helped bring in top players such as defender Jihaad Campbell, edge rusher Keon Keeley, quarterback Justice Haynes, offensive tackle Tyler Booker, and more.
Shephard was Washington’s deputy head coach, leader of the passing game, and receivers coach for two years. It is now one of the best receiver rooms in the country thanks to him.
There were only four schools within the country in 2023 with two players who had 1,000 yards. Washington was one of them. A first-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft is expected to be Rome Odunze.
He had the most catching yards in the country with 1,640. Besides that, he caught 13 touchdowns. Ja’Lynn Polk, who was expected to be picked in the second round, had 69 catches to 1,159 yards and 9 scores.
Shephard, who is 40 years old and from Indiana, used to work at Purdue. From 2017 to 2021, he was the co-offensive coordinator and then the pass-game coordinator.
In three of the five years he played for the Boilermakers, a receiver caught 1,000 passes. Current NFL players Rondale Moore (Arizona) and David Bell (Cleveland) are among those receivers.
Before coming to Purdue, Shephard was Mike Leach’s inside receivers coach at Washington State in 2016. He also worked in different roles at Western Kentucky from 2011 to 2015.
Before that, he worked for four years at the National Center for Drug-Free Sport until Willie Taggart persuaded him to help out at Western Kentucky as a volunteer.