Bama Transfer Portal targets 2025?

[gtgilbert]

Let me clarify on this...

1. That wasn't massive exodus. The football team was over scholarship limits.

2. Out of all players we lost .. Lockwood hurts the team slightly.

3. We did upgrade with ALL transfers that came to Alabama in off-season. Washington is a significant upgrade over Haynes. You gave him little credit.

Dre, I think he’s a combination of all the guys,” DeBoer said. “Kevin’s probably our shiftiest, the explosive kind of guy on the roster. Dre’s compact, much like you’d see with Daniel and Rich, but he’s got some shiftiness to him. I like his mindset, he comes here ready to work, knows he’s got a lot to learn, and focused on what he can control.”

We're just going to have to disagree until Washington actually shows something on the field. Haynes LIT IT UP in the UM spring game, going against their 1st D, getting 50+ yards on just a few carries in the first qtr and showing "home run speed" according to their coaches.

We haven't seen anything remotely close to that from Washington.

 

[some_al_fan]

We're just going to have to disagree until Washington actually shows something on the field. Haynes LIT IT UP in the UM spring game, going against their 1st D, getting 50+ yards on just a few carries in the first qtr and showing "home run speed" according to their coaches.

We haven't seen anything remotely close to that from Washington.

Have not we seen the same from Haynes in the 2024 Alabama A game?
Haynes is very good in the open space and can score a TD from anywhere on the field, but he also goes down immediately on the contact (except for a few plays)

 

[JustNeedMe81]

that's not at all what I've heard. Many left due to the way the 2024 season was handled by the staff. There was a massive amount of discontent on the team. I guess maybe that presents as 'bad attitude guys' if you're wearing crimson glasses, but when that many players feel the same way, there was something creating all that smoke.

I'm sorry I have to side with Pork chop.....

I've heard of locker room issues. But it was mostly entitlement kids who won't do things right way. If you go back and listen to what players were saying throughout the fall camp and then toward end of season, their message changed significantly. Most of the players who left, not all were creating issues. You had Booker, Campbell, Moore and others trying to fight that throughout the season.

Now look at the spring camp and players not transferring out of Alabama compared to last year... Significant changes. Culture was reset this spring.

 

[JustNeedMe81]

We're just going to have to disagree until Washington actually shows something on the field. Haynes LIT IT UP in the UM spring game, going against their 1st D, getting 50+ yards on just a few carries in the first qtr and showing "home run speed" according to their coaches.

We haven't seen anything remotely close to that from Washington.

It's spring camp. Haynes is a good fit for Michigan than he was for CKD.

Again, it's spring camp and the format for the spring camp was different... Like you literally can't just use spring camp and game just to say hey he lit up knowing the format is completely different than the usual.

Alabama RBs had a great spring.... We don't need to hear excellent reports right now .

 

[arthurdawg]

It's spring camp. Haynes is a good fit for Michigan than he was for CKD.

Again, it's spring camp and the format for the spring camp was different... Like you literally can't just use spring camp and game just to say hey he lit up knowing the format is completely different than the usual.
Gi

I think the comments regarding resetting the culture are spot on. Unless I'm missing somebody, we didn't have a single scholly player transfer after spring or even enter the portal. All three QBs stayed which had to be a concern. Everything seems to have a smoothness to it and we definitely upgraded substantially at OC. As for the defense, they really played better every week last year, and I am psyched about seeing if they can take it to the next level. We have a solid starter and quality depth to work with at almost every position, even if some still need reps and experience, which is going to be the case in the portal world. The teams that have a good system and stable roster will outpace the ones chasing forty new dudes a year.

Overall in the crazy world of the portal, I think we seem to be doing very well indeed. And this seems likely to be our best roster since 2020 in most respects. We just need a QB who is above average and doesn't lose games for us.

As for RB... Haynes was a bit of a conundrum. I do like that Jam and Washington give us two different looks on the field, one being a pounder and the other more of a slasher. We also have several other talented RBs who also decided to stick around as well, don't forget them!

I can't really see how we'd be coming into this season any stronger short of CNS still being the man.

 

[gtgilbert]

It's spring camp. Haynes is a good fit for Michigan than he was for CKD.

Again, it's spring camp and the format for the spring camp was different... Like you literally can't just use spring camp and game just to say hey he lit up knowing the format is completely different than the usual.

Alabama RBs had a great spring.... We don't need to hear excellent reports right now .

that dog doesn't hunt. this is the same argument you tried to use to defend Nilroe when there were obvious issues with his performance, form, timing and execution in practices - you'd say almost exactly the same thing: "it's just practice".

Well guess what, if you don't execute in practice and/or camp, you probably won't execute in games and on the other hand, if you are executing at a high level in practice, it's much more likely you will execute well in games. Sure there are some exceptions, but that's going to be the rule 99% of the time.

 

[TheRealPokeChop]

that's not at all what I've heard. Many left due to the way the 2024 season was handled by the staff. There was a massive amount of discontent on the team. I guess maybe that presents as 'bad attitude guys' if you're wearing crimson glasses, but when that many players feel the same way, there was something creating all that smoke.

Those bad attitude guys are on that list fwiw.

Lockwood is the only one id really like back. The staff only pressed to keep two guys and got them both back, Lewis and mbakwe.

We lost 4 receivers to the portal and now have a much better wide receiver room by all reports.....thats all anyone really needs to say for me.

 

[gtgilbert]

Those bad attitude guys are on that list fwiw.

Lockwood is the only one id really like back. The staff only pressed to keep two guys and got them both back, Lewis and mbakwe.

We lost 4 receivers to the portal and now have a much better wide receiver room by all reports.....thats all anyone really needs to say for me.

So I think we are saying the same thing, from different perspectives. The skill guys who were 'bad attitude' were only that way b/c they lost confidence the staff, so of course the staff didn't push hard to get them back.

 

[TheRealPokeChop]

So I think we are saying the same thing, from different perspectives. The skill guys who were 'bad attitude' were only that way b/c they lost confidence the staff, so of course the staff didn't push hard to get them back.

Probably so

 

[Ledsteplin]

Those bad attitude guys are on that list fwiw.

Lockwood is the only one id really like back. The staff only pressed to keep two guys and got them both back, Lewis and mbakwe.

We lost 4 receivers to the portal and now have a much better wide receiver room by all reports.....thats all anyone really needs to say for me.

Seems like most on the list were Saban recruits. I haven't seen many, if any, DeBoer recruits transfering out.

 

[JustNeedMe81]

that dog doesn't hunt. this is the same argument you tried to use to defend Nilroe when there were obvious issues with his performance, form, timing and execution in practices - you'd say almost exactly the same thing: "it's just practice".

Well guess what, if you don't execute in practice and/or camp, you probably won't execute in games and on the other hand, if you are executing at a high level in practice, it's much more likely you will execute well in games. Sure there are some exceptions, but that's going to be the rule 99% of the time.

On this: " this is the same argument you tried to use to defend Nilroe when there were obvious issues with his performance, form, timing and execution in practices - you'd say almost exactly the same thing: "it's just practice"."

This is 100 percent wrong. I have never once said that. Many of posters on here know that I've defended and criticized Jalen AND THE TEAM. that's the difference. I pointed out the issues on the team.. not just Milroe. You used wrong argument to prove the point.

Bottom Line.. You and Porkchop agreed that there was bad apples on the list. I agreed with that.

You said It was massive exodus. I said it wasn't.
You said players left because of Jalen. I disagreed. It was more to the story than you shared.
You said Washington didn't bring anything to the table and you thought Haynes was a huge loss. I disagreed.

Thats it. You somehow just pulled my argument on jalen from the past into this conversation and it didn't make sense.

Bottom line: there was issues in the locker room. There was people who wasn't being held accountable for their behaviors. There were people who wouldn't do the right things on the field and off the field. now, There was few that was not happy with Jalen. Thats it.

 

[JustNeedMe81]

Those bad attitude guys are on that list fwiw.

Lockwood is the only one id really like back. The staff only pressed to keep two guys and got them both back, Lewis and mbakwe.

We lost 4 receivers to the portal and now have a much better wide receiver room by all reports.....thats all anyone really needs to say for me.

You pretty much said same thing I sad. We didn't really lose anything.. If anything we improved the team a lot by our additions.

I don't understand why some people don't get it. It's simple thing. After the season was over, I think we were over by 15 to 20 ppl on scholarship limit. The math is simple.

 

[gtgilbert]

On this: " this is the same argument you tried to use to defend Nilroe when there were obvious issues with his performance, form, timing and execution in practices - you'd say almost exactly the same thing: "it's just practice"."

This is 100 percent wrong. I have never once said that. Many of posters on here know that I've defended and criticized Jalen AND THE TEAM. that's the difference. I pointed out the issues on the team.. not just Milroe. You used wrong argument to prove the point.

Bottom Line.. You and Porkchop agreed that there was bad apples on the list. I agreed with that.

You said It was massive exodus. I said it wasn't.
You said players left because of Jalen. I disagreed. It was more to the story than you shared.
You said Washington didn't bring anything to the table and you thought Haynes was a huge loss. I disagreed.

Thats it. You somehow just pulled my argument on jalen from the past into this conversation and it didn't make sense.

Bottom line: there was issues in the locker room. There was people who wasn't being held accountable for their behaviors. There were people who wouldn't do the right things on the field and off the field. now, There was few that was not happy with Jalen. Thats it.

It was a massive number of players that left. Some due to roster limits and being encouraged to find another spot, many for other reasons. Either way, regardless of reason it was a huge number. There is nothing untrue about that.

Players specifically said they were leaving b/c of the Nilroe situation. You might not like it, but it's true from multiple people with close connections to the team. Many of the bad attitudes originated from this specifically. I don't think most of them are "bad apples" at all and never said that. When someone is forced into a totally crappy situation and goes to the 'management' or coaches about it and feel like their concerns are not taken seriously or like they are blown off or told to just suck it up it can create a bad attitude but that's not a reflection of that person all the time.

I didn't say washington brought nothing to the table, I said he wasn't an upgrade over Haynes. I still believe that Haynes is probably a better back than washington, but I would be very happy to be proven wrong during the season.

It makes all the sense in the world because you were discounting what haynes did in practice and their spring game like that wasn't a valid data point because "it's just camp", or "it's just spring" or whatever, where I believe, after years of coaching multiple sports (all at lower levels than college to be fair) that while not a perfect indicator, that practice performance is the best indicator of game performance, at least until you get into games anyway. You might not think practice or scrimmage matters, but my experience tells me very different and we can just agree to disagree on that.

locker room issues - for sure. Where did those come from? How can coaches hold anyone accountable to anything when everyone on the team knows that no matter how badly certain players perform, they won't get pulled because of off the field stuff? Or when players are expressing concerns, as I mentioned above, but feel like they are being blown off.

 

[JustNeedMe81]

It was a massive number of players that left. Some due to roster limits and being encouraged to find another spot, many for other reasons. Either way, regardless of reason it was a huge number. There is nothing untrue about that.

Players specifically said they were leaving b/c of the Nilroe situation. You might not like it, but it's true from multiple people with close connections to the team. Many of the bad attitudes originated from this specifically. I don't think most of them are "bad apples" at all and never said that. When someone is forced into a totally crappy situation and goes to the 'management' or coaches about it and feel like their concerns are not taken seriously or like they are blown off or told to just suck it up it can create a bad attitude but that's not a reflection of that person all the time.



It makes all the sense in the world because you were discounting what haynes did in practice and their spring game like that wasn't a valid data point because "it's just camp", or "it's just spring" or whatever, where I believe, after years of coaching multiple sports (all at lower levels than college to be fair) that while not a perfect indicator, that practice performance is the best indicator of game performance, at least until you get into games anyway. You might not think practice or scrimmage matters, but my experience tells me very different and we can just agree to disagree on that.

locker room issues - for sure. Where did those come from? How can coaches hold anyone accountable to anything when everyone on the team knows that no matter how badly certain players perform, they won't get pulled because of off the field stuff? Or when players are expressing concerns, as I mentioned above, but feel like they are being blown off.

What I deleted from your comment: I agreed and don't need to address.

1. How can it be massive exodus when we were over scholarship limit ? BY december we were over 20 people. Subtract by addition.

2. If we were going by that theory about spring practice. Then explain to me how many time we've seen players shining in spring camp only to fade away by the fall camp starts? There's long history of that. To me, Summer workout/Fall Camp is the one to pay attention, that's when things get more intense and you get an idea of where things shaking out throughout summer and fall.

3. I think we agreed on locker room issues.. but You're painting one side of the story. Everyone has their sources, and source will always be different and varies person to person. I'm not saying you are wrong on the reason behind players leaving.. I'm telling you there is more to the story .

I think I've shared enough for now.

 

[gtgilbert]

What I deleted from your comment: I agreed and don't need to address.

1. How can it be massive exodus when we were over scholarship limit ? BY december we were over 20 people. Subtract by addition.

2. If we were going by that theory about spring practice. Then explain to me how many time we've seen players shining in spring camp only to fade away by the fall camp starts? There's long history of that. To me, Summer workout/Fall Camp is the one to pay attention, that's when things get more intense and you get an idea of where things shaking out throughout summer and fall.

3. I think we agreed on locker room issues.. but You're painting one side of the story. Everyone has their sources, and source will always be different and varies person to person. I'm not saying you are wrong on the reason behind players leaving.. I'm telling you there is more to the story .

I think I've shared enough for now.

22 were on my list. Since Dec, we've had 11 transfer in, plus it sounds like we are still on the hunt for 1 more OL and possibly 1 more DT so that would be 13 coming in so we were maybe looking at being 9 over.

A few are known upgrades like Horton (although we lost a LOT of WRs) and probably Collins, but the rest are a bit more unknown. I'd have preferred to keep Oko versus the CO LB, if only because Oko has 3 more years to develop and we only get the CO guy a year and the CO guy is probably a rotational guy unless someone gets hurt. Dewberry < Mcvay. Although I know Pritchett had some challenges anugwon is very much a project to the point that we even if we wanted to have a spring game, we didn't have enough OTs to field two teams. We lost Payne and don't have depth at DT now - looking for others in the portal. We've now added at least 3 TEs and one OL who is likely moving to TE. There's just a lot in that which doesn't make sense.

For every spring star that doesn't pan out, there are probably 18-20 who first start to shine and spring and carry it forward. Some will keep pushing and make even more progress and a small handful won't. The ones who don't are typically the exceptions, not even close to a majority. I'd still bet on the guy who does the right things in practice all the time and stands out there to be more successful than the guy you don't hear much about and I'm pretty sure I would win that bet way, way more than I would lose it.

I've heard about the locker room stuff from more than a single side. Several accounts with some not directly related to the situation. All had a very similar take on it and it all pointed in the direction I mentioned. Was there some other locker room stuff to deal with? sure, but a great deal of the root cause was a singular thing.

 

[TheRealPokeChop]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1916168130549711011

 

[colbysullivan]

TJ Finley back in the portal

Let’s grab him before someone else does!

 

[NoNC4Tubs]

TJ Finley back in the portal

Let’s grab him before someone else does!

With 14 more years of eligibility...apparently!

 

[tusks_n_raider]

TJ Finley back in the portal

Let’s grab him before someone else does!

How is that even possible?

He’s like Van Wilder but on tour.

If you made a helmet with all his teams on it it would look like a cross between a Senior Bowl and Maryland helmet.

 

[81usaf92]

Players specifically said they were leaving b/c of the Nilroe situation. You might not like it, but it's true from multiple people with close connections to the team. Many of the bad attitudes originated from this specifically. I don't think most of them are "bad apples" at all and never said that. When someone is forced into a totally crappy situation and goes to the 'management' or coaches about it and feel like their concerns are not taken seriously or like they are blown off or told to just suck it up it can create a bad attitude but that's not a reflection of that person all the time.



locker room issues - for sure. Where did those come from? How can coaches hold anyone accountable to anything when everyone on the team knows that no matter how badly certain players perform, they won't get pulled because of off the field stuff? Or when players are expressing concerns, as I mentioned above, but feel like they are being blown off.

Out of all of those who left the only one i can definitely say 100% left because of the staff’s treatment in regards of Milroe is Odom. And that’s because i know it on a more personal level. But in a weird way… it may be good that he transferred out because we upgraded.