Happy Thursday, Crimson Tide fans. There's plenty to unpack as spring ball heats up, and Kalen DeBoer is already setting the tone for what he expects in 2026. In a candid conversation with Greg McElroy, DeBoer made it clear: Alabama football is getting back to its roots.

"You work around your personnel," DeBoer said. "I really do believe you don't win championships without a physical nature to your program, and that happens through what you do in practice. That's what we want to become. I know what that looks like, we've done it at multiple places."

That statement should be music to the ears of Alabama fans who watched the offensive line struggle last season. The result? One of the worst rushing attacks in recent memory for a program built on ground-and-pound dominance. While Ty Simpson and the passing game flashed elite potential at times, DeBoer knows that in the SEC, you can't rely on the air attack alone to hang banners.

"I'm not going to take away from what we were at Washington and the ability to throw the football or what we were last year with Ty slinging it around to a talented group of receivers," DeBoer explained. "That's dynamic, and you want to be as dynamic as you possibly can be. But you do need to have a physical way about you if you want to win the championships."

It's a classic balancing act: maintaining that explosive passing game while re-establishing the punishing ground identity that made Alabama a dynasty. But the path to that balance isn't just about X's and O's—it's about finding the right leaders to steer the ship.

And that's where things get interesting. With so few seniors on the roster, DeBoer is navigating uncharted waters when it comes to leadership. The usual comfort of knowing exactly who will step up isn't there this time around.

"The guys that were here and open-armed accepting the guys that came in when they saw how hard they were going to work and be like, 'You know what? We can do this,'" DeBoer said. "And I think there's kind of just a silent kind of way we're methodically going about our work."

He added: "It is different probably than what I've expected and experienced most years. Most years, you know who most of the guys are all the way across the board that you can really expect to lead the charge and that makes you feel good, makes you feel a little bit more comfortable. But I think our coaching staff's doing a really good job of pushing all these guys, giving them the feedback they need to hear, not just what they want to hear."

So, who emerges as that vocal leader? Will it be a returning veteran or a transfer who earns the respect of the locker room? As the spring progresses, all eyes will be on which players take ownership of this team's identity. For a program synonymous with toughness, finding that next generation of leaders is just as important as any drill or scheme. Roll Tide.