When Alabama football head coach Kalen DeBoer was doing a radio interview on Tuesday, he pointed out one position group that had impressed him through the early days of spring practice. According to DeBoer, the defensive backfield had been excellent.

Just like nearly everything else in the program, the defensive backfield has seen significant change since Nick Saban’s retirement, with Kane Wommack taking over as defensive coordinator under DeBoer. There’s also lots of pieces to replace, with starting cornerbacks Kool-Aid McKinstry and Terrion Arnold both off to the NFL, along with safety Jaylen Key, not to mention Caleb Downs, who transferred to Ohio State.

Even with all that attrition, the coaches didn’t sound concerned about the talent level of UA’s current defensive backs. Wommack had high praise for the group, especially the safeties, which include the returning Malachi Moore and Michigan transfer Keon Sabb, on Saturday.

“Those guys are able to communicate and get things executed,” Wommack said. “But from an athleticism standpoint, I think they can cover man-to-man. They’ve got great spacial awareness in their zone coverage and they can close on the ball. Again, we talk about that vision coverage, you see those guys getting closer and closer to making plays on the ball.”

On Wednesday, DeBoer was asked about two of the Crimson Tide’s younger defensive backs. Safety Red Morgan and cornerback Zabien. Brown both joined the team as early-enrollees and will play their true freshman seasons this fall.

DeBoer was optimistic about both players.

“Those two in particular and there’s been some others, but since you brought them up, they’ve certainly been highlighted throughout these first five practices,” DeBoer said. Red made a nice play, or two today and Zabien’s been super consistent, really beyond what you would expect for guys that are so young. It’s been really positive with those guys.”

Crimson Tide defensive backs coach Colin Hitschler singled out Morgan in particular as “fun” to coach. Morgan joined the Tide as a four-star prospect from Central in Phenix City.

“He is true Alabama, through and through,” Hitschler said. “When you have kids like that, that love football, they’re fun to coach. He wants every bit of knowledge you can give him.”

On the veteran side, one who could make an impact is redshirt junior DeVonta Smith. According to Wommack, Smith, who missed much of 2023 with an injury, has been practicing the Husky positon.

The spot is similar to the Star position Alabama’s defense previously used. Malachi Moore played that spot last season, and returns in 2024 as well.

“That Husky position is so critical to what we do because we ask a lot out of that player,” Wommack said. “To cover man-to-man, to blitz off the edge, to play zone coverage, to sometimes pit down in the box, we’re asking quite a bit. And so it needs a very versatile skill set, and I think Smitty has that.”

With the aforementioned departures of McKinstry and Arnold, along with Trey Amos and Antonio Kite’s transfers, the cornerbacks group is short on experience. The only players in the room with college experience are the returning Jahlil Hurley and Southern Cal transfer Domani Jackson.

Fortunately, there’s a solid set of freshmen around. Along with Zabien Brown, the incoming group includes five-star Jaylen Mbakwe and Alabama legacy Dre Kirkpatrick Jr.

Wommack emphasized how important it is for the youngsters to see as many live reps as possible.

“These freshmen are going against an offense that has a lot of volume,” he said. “We have a lot of things in right now, and so they’re able to see a lot of different pictures, formation shifts, all those things. So rapidly you can see these guys getting better by the day. On top of that, they’re a very talented group, so I’m excited about our freshman DBs right now.”

Alabama will continue spring practice on Thursday. Spring will conclude with the A-Day game on April 13 at Bryant-Denny Stadium.