With the onset of the offseason, Kaleb DeBoer and the Alabama Crimson Tide are back to the drawing room. Fox Nation released a documentary following the team’s journey throughout the 2024 season.
In the documentary, we see Alabama’s WR coach, JaMarcus Shephard, call out the players during a heated team meeting.
Alabama WR Coach Did Not Mince Words Addressing Players in a Team Meeting
The Crimson Tide had a rather disappointing campaign under DeBoer, according to their standards.
Following Nick Saban’s retirement, DeBoer was brought in as his replacement. He managed to muster a 9-4 record. But they failed to compete in the SEC championship and also qualify for the 12-team playoffs.
The six-part documentary series is called “The Tides That Bind: Inside Alabama Football.” The first episode was released on Wednesday. In this episode, we see WR coach Shephard deliver a fiery speech to the players during a team meeting.
In his speech, Shephard urged the team’s receiving corps to strengthen their discipline and commitment on the field. WRs Ryan Williams, Germie Bernard, and Cole Adams were seen jotting down points made by Shepard during the meeting.
“I’m tired of sugarcoating s**t for people in this room anymore,” Shephard said. “I’m not sugarcoating. It’s a tell-tale sign our two receivers with the most production in the room are the two taking notes right now. It’s a tell-tale sign that’s how it is. I’m sick of this s**t.
“The ball goes in the air, we’ve got to want it. Everybody wanna be cute. All these weak-a** haircuts y’all got. S**t all pristine and s**t. Ain’t nobody got no dog in them.”
Both Williams and Bernard had the most productions from the WR corps on the field during the 2024 season. Williams tallied 865 receiving yards with eight touchdowns and 48 receptions. On the other hand, Bernard had 794 yards and two touchdowns receiving for the Crimson Tide.
However, quarterback Jalen Milroe also failed to deliver according to expectations. He failed to make an impact as he did during the 2023 season, recording a total of 2,844 passing yards and 16 touchdowns while rushing for 720 yards and 20 touchdowns.
Experts project him to be a late first-round to second-round pick in this year’s NFL draft.
Ryan Williams came in clutch for Alabama during crucial moments
The first episode of the documentary ended with Williams’ game-winning touchdown against Kirby Smart’s Georgia Bulldogs in the fourth game of the season. He arrived in Tuscaloosa as a part of the 2024 recruiting class and has already showcased his value during his freshman campaign.
Fox Nation also played a clip of Williams where he talks about his mindset heading into big games for the Crimson Tide.
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“There’s pretty much no situation that I’m uncomfortable in. Cause I’ve been in a life-or-death situation,” Williams said. “I know how to deal with stuff. Because if I ain’t dead, I know I’m going to be OK.”
“That’s why now whenever people are like, ‘Do you feel pressure?’ I’m like, ‘No, the pressure I felt was 10 times worse than this.’ Like this ain’t nothing. But like I need my people to be OK. Like I keep in the back of my head that I’m here for a reason.”
DeBoer has a lot to prove in his second stint with the Crimson Tide. It will be interesting to see if they can redeem themselves and find the former glory and success they enjoyed under Saban’s leadership over the years.
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