How Will Alabama Tackle the Transfer Portal?

The spring transfer portal window will open on Wednesday, and with it, a chance for Alabama to make additions to the roster should the right player enter the transfer portal. However, the transfer portal giveth, and the transfer portal taketh away, as Alabama's players will have the option to leave the Crimson Tide. It's a delicate line to walk adding talent that can contribute while not running off valuable depth pieces. How will the Crimson Tide tackle the 10-day transfer window later this week?

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'Super careful," head coach Kalen DeBoer said on Monday.

“I think you’re just always looking to find the right person that fits who you are as a program,” DeBoer said. “Someone who can make your team better, our roster better. So we have just a couple scholarships, really, available to us. So we’ll be careful, and they’ve gotta meet all those areas that we feel good about – the culture of our team, the chemistry from within, the work that’s being put in."

“So I like the combination of attrition and addition that we’ve had, whether it’s high school guys coming in. Eighteen of our 21 guys were here that we signed in December, and so they aren’t gonna feel like freshmen this summer. And then also, a few of the transfers that have come in and really done a nice job blending in, as well, and defining their roles more and more every single day, asking more out of them from a leadership standpoint."

“So we’ll be super careful on what we do with the portal. There are some areas where we do know if we have the right person pop up, we would take advantage of that.”

Alabama lost 23 scholarship players in the transfer portal during the winter window but added 11 via the portal. The Tide also signed 21 players in its top-three recruiting class a season ago.

One position of interest in the transfer portal will be quarterback. With one star SEC quarterback already committed to entering the transfer portal, Alabama must be careful not to lose Austin Mack or Keelon Russell or risk going into the season with only two scholarship quarterbacks on the roster. Does DeBoer think the Tide can keep all three beyond next Friday, when the portal closes?

“I really hope we can,” DeBoer said. “And related to the portal in general, you never know, right? That possibility always exists. But I feel good about our team and our roster as far as the general chemistry, guys feeling like they’re continuing to be developed, that they continue to have a chance to compete and have an opportunity here."

“I feel like that’s the case here at the quarterback position, too. And Austin's [Mack] growth, again, going back to where he was at, not even just a year ago, but just the middle of the season, seeing him continue to go this way."

While both Grubb and DeBoer would prefer four quarterbacks on the roster, it may just not be possible with the current landscape of NIL and college football.

“Three isn’t very many, but it’s probably the number we’re going to have to be at at quarterback. That’s what we’re expecting here going into the fall. Had four last year; I think that’s kind of a unique situation. I’ve had three many times in the last few years, and you’re always on edge.”

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Wyatt Fulton is the Tide 100.9 DME and Brand Manager, primarily covering Alabama Crimson Tide football and men's basketball. For more Crimson Tide coverage, follow Wyatt on X (Formerly known as Twitter) at @FultonW_.