The 2023 Alabama football offensive line should pass the eye test with flying colors. They’re the type of players a coach metaphorically wants off the bus first to intimidate an opponent. In another life, would new coordinator Tommy Rees lead the charge?

The height and weight of UA’s 13 scholarship linemen average out to a 6-foot-5, 323-pound people mover. Rees, per Notre Dame’s 2013-14 roster — his last year as a collegiate quarterback — was listed as 6-foot-1, 215 pounds. Still, if you ask Rees, he’d say yes. But in the real world, Tide sophomore Tyler Booker offered a blunt assessment.

“First of all, I don’t think coach Rees has the frame for that,” Booker joked, “but knowing how he likes to call plays, I think he has the mentality for it, for sure.”

Speaking to the media on Sunday, the Tide’s new coach was asked about a 2020 tweet by former teammate Mike Golic Jr. that detailed an example of Rees’ toughness. Rees roomed with two linemen and said he’d love to be a pulling guard, according to Golic. Rees agreed, saying he’s “longed for” the physicality in the trenches.

“I wasn’t a very good quarterback, so I figured I could take another shot somewhere. Like that physical part of the game has always resonated with me. I think the offensive line is a group that can be unsung a little bit. Really without that group of five in front of you, it’s hard to do anything well, not just run the football, not just throw the football, but really, you face an uphill battle. I just always like the camaraderie of the group of the guys up front. There’s a toughness to this game that I always felt like I missed by playing quarterback,” Rees said.

That mindset has carried over to his energy as a play-caller, meaning more tight ends and handoffs to bruise the defensive front. Through the spring and first four practices of fall camp, Tide players have told the media they’re looking for a smash-mouth style, with linebacker Dallas Turner citing “joyless murder ball” in July’s SEC Media Days.

“Having an offensive coordinator that has that run-first mentality, that believes that we’re going to pass the ball as a compliment to the run, that’s very reassuring to an offensive line, especially our,” Booker said, “we want to make people quit this year, and there’s no better way to do that than running the ball. We’re going to run the ball this year. We’re going to pass the ball as well, because we have a lot of talented guys at receiver. We have a lot of talented guys who can throw the ball well. But having that run-first mentality, that gets us going because we want to make people quit.”

RELATED: How Kevin Steele is addressing Alabama football’s penalty issue

Alabama OC Tommy Rees describes his ‘caring relationship’ with QBs

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