The Alabama football team is hoping to repeat as SEC Champions in 2024 and will have to do it in a major transition year. Arguably the greatest and most successful college football coach of all-time Nick Saban has decided to hang up his whistle, and now NCAA runner-up coach Kalen DeBoer will take a stab at keeping the Tide on top of the SEC.
DeBoer has been busy working the transfer portal and the coaching pool for new additions to the Crimson Tide this coming offseason, and they snagged another Washington Huskies assistant recently. Saban revealed his new role with the team and it is an intriguing one.
Perhaps the biggest transfer portal news came when the Tide snatched Keon Sabb from the Michigan Wolverines, a smart, disciplined defender who could be an instant upgrade this coming season, if he can play up to his potential.
Keon Sabb's Value to Alabama Football
Sabb was a four-star prospect out of high school with offers from Michigan, Penn State, Clemson and Texas A&M among other schools who flew under the radar until his success last season with the national champions from the Big Ten Conference.
An instinctive and versatile player who is long and wiry strong, Sabb can play just about any position from free safety to fill-in cornerback.
At 6-foot-1, 208 pounds, he comes complete with the NFL caliber size Alabama football has punctuated its roster with throughout Saban's tenure with the school.
Sabb had four passes defensed and 14 solo tackles last season along with two interceptions.
He was part of a secondary led by defensive backs coach Steve Clinkscale, now with Jim Harbaugh in the National Football League, and Jesse Minter, who also headed to San Diego to reprise his defensive coordinator role with the Chargers.
Sabb should enter Tuscaloosa this fall with a willingness and tenacity to compete for a starting job, but it won't be easy.
Sabb Has the Most to Prove in 2024
Sabb has the most to prove among Alabama transfers for several reasons.
First, he played on an absolutely stacked secondary last season led by future top 10 NFL pick Will Johnson along with safeties Rod Moore and Makari Paige, both of whom should be taken in the top three to four rounds of the NFL Draft next spring.
Sabb will also be entering unfamiliar territory in the Southeastern Conference, which most if not all analysts would agree has been better than the Big Ten in the last few seasons despite Michigan's 15-0 national title season last season.
The speed of the SEC game will be an adjustment for Sabb. It's something former Michigan transfer Joe Milton commented on immediately after transferring from Ann Arbor to Rocky Top, and now Sabb will have the pleasure of experiencing it first hand from his defensive back position.
Sabb's 2023 season was his first full-time with the Wolverines as he did not play in 2022.
He will be expected to provide leadership and key snaps right away with the Crimson Tide who are in a transition time with Saban leaving and Coach DeBoer's system being implemented.
Sabb has the talent, maturity, and skill to make it a memorable season and perhaps to become a star right away for Coach DeBoer's team, but it won't be easy.
He will be playing in a tougher conference with less established defensive backfield mates around him than he is used to having (as strange as that sounds talking about an Alabama team), and that will be a big-time adjustment.
The prediction here is that Sabb becomes another great player in a long line of them at Alabama football, but it could take longer than expected as the Glassboro, New Jersey native eases into SEC play.
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