Alabama football needs three new starting offensive linemen. Heading into the spring, eyes drifted to the tackle positions with freshman Kadyn Proctor transferring and potential top NFL draft pick JC Latham, both are no longer in Tuscaloosa. But, through a couple of days of practice and media availabilities, a position battle at the unit’s core has revealed itself.

New Tide offensive line coach Chris Kapilovic confirmed Friday that it’s an open competition at center between fourth-year player James Brockermeyer and Washington transfer Parker Brailsford.

In the portion of practice media viewed Wednesday, Brockermeyer worked with the starting unit and Brailsford with the twos. With a new offense like Kalen DeBoer’s — which heavily features motion and power run concepts — the battle becomes a key storyline of the spring leading into A-Day.

Kapilovic, who was hired by UA on Feb. 19 after Scott Huff followed Ryan Grubb to the Seattle Seahawks, explained what it’ll take to earn the job:

“It all starts with having leadership skills and communication skills and having a high football IQ. You gotta understand the scheme. You gotta be able to communicate great to the guys next to you,” Kapilovic said. “You gotta get people in the right positions and then from there, obviously, it’s getting the ball to the quarterback and getting to the right places and playing to the right level. That is a cerebral mental position and so that’s gonna be a big part of it.”

But can they snap the ball? That’ll likely be a question for Alabama fans after last year’s well-documented issues with Seth McLaughlin (now at Ohio State). Kapilovic said he learned years ago after dealing with injury concerns the importance of having multiple players cross-train, meaning multiple players learning how to snap the ball. Alabama charts and grades each snap, a practice likely to continue into the fall.

Brailsford has the advantage of playing center for DeBoer’s award-winning offensive line. The Huskies won the Joe Moore Award last season (given to the country’s best offensive line), clearing the way for Michael Penix Jr. and an explosive attack. Brailsford is one of four transfers that followed DeBoer from Washington (Austin Mack, Germie Bernard, Josh Cuevas). Brailsford, Arizona native, was second-team All-Pac 12 in 2023 and a semifinalist for the Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year Award.

Brockermeyer entered Tuscaloosa as a four-star recruit from All Saints (Texas) Episcopal. Like most offensive linemen heading into the SEC, it took a while for Brockermeyer to see the field. He redshirted in 2021, got his fist snaps across two games in 2022 and was a fixture on special teams last fall. Brockermeyer was on the field for 28 offensive snaps last fall.

Tyler Booker said Brailsford is like a “second coach” on the field and helped explain concepts at an offensive line dinner that Booker hosted. For Brockermeyer, Booker values his experience. Kapilovic deemed it “crucial” to have two players pushing themselves at such a valuable position. There are likely smaller-scale battles at left tackle, where Elijah Pritchett worked alongside Booker, and right tackle, where Wilkin Formby was stationed next to Jaeden Roberts.

“Everybody knows how critical that is and this is a critical time here because we are so young and lack a little depth. Really, development is critical,” Kapilovic said.

Nick Alvarez is a reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @nick_a_alvarez or email him at [email protected].