What we learned midway through spring practice

Alabama Football is rough in the middle of his spring 2023 trainingseven sessions behind and seven to go before the A-Day game on April 22.

Of course, it’s hard to get a lot of accurate information from spring training. Most of the information that is even made available to the public is filtered directly or indirectly through Coach Saban.

Also, it’s important to keep in mind that this is the offseason. Optimism is always high this time of year, but in this case, I believe there is some substance to the reports of positive changes in the Alabama Football program.

Alabama Football: New coordinators take charge

All of the early feedback from Alabama’s new coordinators has been encouraging. Offensive coordinator Tommy Rees wastes no time in introducing a new approach and has the approval of the players.

On the other side of the ball, the defensive coordinator Kevin Steele keeps the defense at a new level and has received praise from both current and former players.

As a duo, these coordinators want to change the attitude and accountability with which Alabama Football is played. Both Rees and Steele approach the game with a chip on their shoulder. If their festive and competitive nature catches on, the whole program will benefit.

Alabama Football: Quarterbacks still doling out reps

Bama fans will likely be obsessed with this quarterback battle until the fall. As expected, there are no answers yet, as Jalen Milroe and Ty Simpson appear to share starting reps in spring ball.

Milroe, a redshirt sophomore, is a phenomenal athlete looking to develop as a pitcher and coach a championship-level offense. Most fans didn’t like what they saw from Milroe last season, but the sample size was far too small to judge the young quarterback.

Simpson is a redshirt freshman and is widely believed to be the more polished passer and natural quarterback between the two. He’s become a fan favorite in this competition, in part because we’ve barely seen him. As a fan, it’s always easy for us to idealize a guy who hasn’t been thrown into the fire yet.

We may have to wait a while to find out the starting quarterback as this race appears to be neck and neck.

Alabama Football: Too early for depth charts

It’s far too early to make claims about potential starters and depth charts, but that hasn’t stopped Alabama Football fans from speculating.

One player in particular has caught fans’ attention in spring practice clips, and that’s safety Caleb Downs. The true freshman looks set to get reps on the first-team defense so far.

Downs was a 5-star recruit and one of the few truly elite players in the 2023 class. Expectations are very high for Caleb Downs, and it looks like he’s on track to live up to the hype.