Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer spoke to reporters Wednesday. DeBoer discussed Jaylen Mbakwe’s decision to return to Alabama, the addition of Florida defensive lineman Kirby Collins, Malachi Moore’s status and other key updates as Alabama prepares for the ReliaQuest Bowl.

Here’s everything DeBoer said.

“Just had a couple days off over the weekend. The guys finished finals, a bunch of them graduated which was really cool celebrating that. I know we had some families in town too. So, getting back to work the next five days, including today. Real strong emphasis on Michigan and the bowl game, of course. So, excited for that. There will be a two-day period in that, Christmas included, where they get a chance to get back home real quick and then the 26th we’ll be back at it and headed down after practice down to Tampa.”

“One thing with the bowl game, Malachi Moore. He’s been going through an injury pretty much a lot of the season and just got to the point where he wasn’t gonna be able to play. So just kind of putting that out there. He’s having surgery actually today. He wanted to do everything to get out there. He was trying to find — trying to wait it out to see if it could possibly be something he’s able to participate in, but — probably the biggest thing I’ll say is, he just grinded through the year with it. It’s not something recent. It’s something that’s been ongoing and maybe some of you kinda saw or felt something that that, but just hats off to how much he loves this place, how bad he wanted to be out there on the field each and every Saturday and even how bad he wanted to be out there with these guys and just finish it off and his career for the bowl game.

“So, unfortunately, we’re not able to make that happen, but love that kid to death. He’s got a bright future in everything he does. So, just poured a lot into this place, a lot of passion, a lot of want-to, a lot of desire, a lot of things I know the rest of our team took from him along the way.”

“Versatility. Just a guy that can come in and do a lot of different things and just add to a group that has good numbers, good competition. But he’s got his kind of niche too, outside, inside, can do a little bit of both, help out to what we want to be better at, getting to the quarterback in different ways.”

“His conversation with me was that he wanted to come back. Really, it’s not that complicated. First of all, the kid loves this place. He’s a great teammate, works extremely hard. Obviously, we see what he is on the field. He’s extremely versatile. We see him play defense. We see him do the things with the ball in his hands in a punt returner situation. I think some guys just as they go through it, realize what they want. We just are in the world right now where that’s what it is. We’re excited that he wanted to be here with us and back out there going to work today."

“We have a few here already that are with us that were out there today. It’s exciting to see them and get a feel for them before we get into the offseason. I know it’s a great time for them, too. They’re fired up to be here. So we’re incorporating them as they come in and it's not just a — they’re all here one day. Just depending on their end of it usually, is what we’ll incorporate them being a part of our team. So, it’s exciting to have them here, learning a few things maybe that’ll carry over to when we hit the field next spring.”

“We certainly are short there — at wide receiver — with injuries and some guys that entered the portal. So yeah, it’s always been that way where we’ve been open with what he can bring to the table. I think as a freshman coming in, you’re really trying to focus on doing one thing well, but this is certainly a time where we can look into that, figure that out.

"He’s, again, super talented. I think the one thing that sticks out with me — I talked about punt retuner, referenced that — a lot of guys, especially defensive guys, I know for me have the trust of putting the ball in their hands on a punt return, which is a lot of people running at you, making people miss, a lot of people converging on you all at once. Never really have felt concerned about his ball security right? Let’s all knock on wood together on that one. But, he’s just got that trust factor that you have with him and it goes back to his high school days. So, you’re always looking at guys who can help you on the football field one way or another.”

“It’s just day-to-day. It’s just the world we live in. Obviously, practice is even different, you know? Just with less guys and depth in some places like normal and other places where you gotta mix and match groups. It’s the world we’re in, you gotta adjust and the relationships, — I’ve heard ‘you’ve gotta re-recruit your team’ and things like that. To me, you’re recruiting your team all year long and you’re doing it through building relationships. And so you get to this point, there’s conversations. Shoot, I have nothing but respect and wish the best to the guys that are moving on. When I say that I love being around our kids and that they gave us everything they had I really mean that.

“And so, you want — and I know part of my philosophy is I want the place I’m at here to always be the palace that they have a great experience, but not every place is a perfect fit for everyone, and once you get there sometimes you realize that. So, you just gotta keep rolling with it and I appreciate our staff for just staying the course, having built those relationships along with myself and we go deep on that — not just the position coaches, but all coaches and even off-the-field staff have really done a good job to where I feel good about who we have here and we’re focused on them and looking forward to finishing out the next 13 days or so with the group we have and then turning around and building the roster for next year.”

“I think you’re always thinking about that. That happens a lot, whether it’s coaches or players. You know, we’ll certainly take that into consideration.”

“Yeah, there’s four scholarship guys. In practice, there’s more guys that can be involved and we just gotta keep bringing more guys along with understanding the offense on a level to where they can step on the football field and help us if needed.”

“Yeah, we graduated a lot of snaps at tight end with CJ [Dippre] and Robbie [Ouzts]. So the opportunities are really strong here for the tight end position and he certainly — being an upper-classman — I think he understood that and kind of processed that a little bit more and that was part of the reason — actually the reason why I think he decided to come back. He’s got a skillset I think — when you take the size also added into it — some range. We just gotta keep developing it and I do feel like that there’s 10 or 15 kids that have really developed and come a long, long way since the first day we stepped on the field this spring. He’d certainly be one of them. So, more reps is gonna be something that just helps him become a better football player. So, he’s pouring into that right now.”

“Rich will be ready to go just like he always is and he’s a strong running back, does a lot of things. We’ll be excited to have all of those guys be incorporated into the game plan. Everyone else just when they have someone leave at their position — more opportunities that you can take advantage of. So, certainly excited to have Rich highlighted more with more opportunities in practice and games to show everyone what he can do.”

“It’ll be kind of mix and match. This literally here kind of in the last — it’s not like we’ve had a week or two to think this through and work through it. But, it’ll be the young guys. There’s been some moving piece that I can expand on more probably as we talk here in the week ahead. A [Zavier] Mincey is probably someone you’re not thinking about much, but a guy that has been moved to safety going back to mid-season and I think he’s gonna be a guy down the road that is someone who we’ll be counting on. He’s getting more opportunities to get those reps out there. There’s more guys as well. So, exactly who that will be and how that will play out, we’re gonna work through that here in the next week or two.”

“It’s been huge. Malachi in that room, just the demeanor and the fight, the grit that he’s played with, I know has spread through the rest of the room because the DB position as a whole was just extremely young. You had these upper guys that you’re talking about, these older guys, and then you had a lot of younger guys. So, together they’ve understood they need each other — 1, to learn from the older guys and the other one is to have success on the field. So – Keon’s out here today, just out there trying to mentor. He’s anxious to come back and us have a really good season next year when he’s part of it again on the field. So, he’s doing everything he can to coach these guys up and take advantage of every minute we have here in the 2024 season.”

“It’s extremely strong. I can’t say enough of guys — whether they’re captains, unity council, guys who are seniors and this is it, to guys that are probably leaning towards the NFL. It says a lot about all of them wanting to come out and finish off strong. I think it goes back and sticking it out and being the ones that stayed the coruse and beleived in this place in the beginning, back in January and now them knowing they need to finish what they satrted this season. That’s commitment you make when you’re part of the football team here.”

“It’s definitely something that’s gonna help him. A few weeks is better than nothing and so yeah, you’re out there today — not as noticeable. He’s bouncing around. He looked certainly better and I think a lot of that will be a full offseason to help him get really completely over the hump, but yeah, he’s out there doing his thing and you’re never gonna question the guy’s effort, I can tell you that — his want-to and his desire.”

“He’s one of the hardest workers on the team. There’s a lot of guys that pour a lot into it. He’s doing stuff on his own, pretty much every day. You pick an early-morning time when we don’t have a practice, he’s doing something in some facility in here. You bounce around and all of a sudden you hear a ball being thrown or something moving — he’s one of those guys. He’s a gym rat and he’s really — reps, I’ve said it kind of a lot of different times in a lot of different ways whether its staff and our reps or players’ reps – really help you gain confidence because the preparation leads to that. So, he’s really come a long way. It’s fun seeing him take advantage of even the scout team reps he took and just his ability to throw the ball where he wants it. And sometimes that’s a great opportunity because if you make a mistake it’s not the end of the world, but you can keep honing in on your skills. So, he did a lot this year to help those gusy with the defense and now he’s getting more and more reps. So I’m excited about his future, for sure.”

“I think you can always continue to try and tweak and that’s our obligation to to and continue to communicate as coaches in this profession — try to make it better. I don’t know what the perfect answer is because you think about the semester start for next year, but there’s now playoff games going and there’s bowl prep and what’s the level of those bowls that are being played with less guys a part of it. So, I think there’s always — whether they’re unintended, maybe you know what those consequences are gonna be when you chance something — but there’s always more other things that come a long with it. So, I know its a topic, certainly us coaches in different circles continue to talk about and try to come up with some answers or better solutions, but it’s certainly a lot to handle. But, that’s — we got a staff that has experience, works together well. So in the midst of it, I feel like we’re handling it about as well as we possibly can when you’re talking about a high school class, your own roster, some additions that you’re looking to bring in while you’re getting ready for another game. So it’s what we’re here to do. It’s part of our job. So, don’t really feel overwhelmed by it in any way. You just take each day and pour into it every way you can."

“Yeah, that’s certainly a team effort across the board. There’s a role everyone plays and every guy, every situation is different of course. You think its your position coach and coordinator, it’s sometimes someone who the other side of the ball recruited three years ago. So every situations different. It’s gotta be a team effort – on-field staff, off the field staff. It’s all hands on deck always and that’s how its gonna be whether its the portal or recruiting high school prospects.”