Jumbo Package: Alabama Hires New Offensive Line Coach

The main news right now is that Alabama has hired their new offensive line coach:

Alabama football has found its next offensive line coach. The Crimson Tide is expected to hire Adrian Klemm to join Kalen DeBoer’s staff, AL.com confirmed on Monday.

The news was first reported by CBS Sports.

Klemm will join the Crimson Tide after spending last season as an offensive analyst on Lincoln Riley’s staff at Southern Cal. He did not coach during the 2024 season, after one year as Bill Belichick’s final offensive line coach with the NFL’s New England Patriots.

He spent 2022 at Oregon, where he served as offensive line coach and run game coordinator, and held an assistant head coach title. Klemm did three seasons in Pittsburgh before that, in various roles for the Steelers.

If you want a good write up, the official USC website did a great job listing a lot of his accomplishments even for a guy that was just an analyst.

But the synopsis is that he was a second-round draft pick for the Patriots back in 2000 and won three Super Bowls with them, then got his start at coaching with SMU, where he was named non-BCS recruiter of the year, plus set school records in rushing yards. He then wehnt to UCLA, where, again, they broke rushing records and was named Pac-12 recruiter of the year. After 5 years, he got called up to Pittsburgh and was an assistant OL coach for a while before being promoted to OL coach. Then he went to Oregon under Dan Lanning, where he coached up two All-American linemen.

His final stint was the only bad one, where he joined the Patriots in that fateful season where they decided that DC Matt Patricia should be an OC and it went horribly.

Essentially, it’s been an excellent track record of a career as an OL coach and a recruiter for last 15 years, outside of happening to be on that disaster of a swan song that Bill Belichick put together in Foxboro.

It’s hard not to be excited about this guy’s resume and potential, and it should be a clear upgrade from the last coach who had a very mixed-at-best resume.

Couple that with the amount of turnover, and it’s clear the head coaching staff had a position group that they were very unhappy with. Sure, we’ll never know for sure why so many players transferred…. But it wasn’t for potential playing time. With two players leaving for the NFL and three more graduating, the entire OL was pretty much up for grabs, and six players transferred out anyway. To me, that sounds very much…. “mutual.”

Here’s to hoping that a total overhaul makes improvement – because I’m not sure it can really be too much worse.

Speaking of changes to Alabama’s roster, Chase Goodbread got access to some All-22 film and gave us a scouting report on new WR, Noah Rogers. Now, us peasants don’t actually get said All-22, but hey, you can trust Chase’s opinion!

How he was used at N.C. State: The Wolfpack offense looked to get the ball in Rogers’ hands quickly with a heavy dose of perimeter throws and short, high-percentage completions. He played far more as an outside receiver than he did in the slot. Special teams-wise, he played on N.C. State’s punt unit.

What he does well: Rogers has good initial quickness and stems his routes with sharp breaks, particularly given his size (6-foot-2, 205 pounds). He’s got a good instincts for getting open in zone coverage, doesn’t fear the middle of the field, and is effective in picking up yardage after the catch.

What he doesn’t do well: Rogers tends to catch too many passes against his body rather than extending his hands to secure the ball. Body catches can be problematic because they give defensive backs a better chance at pass breakups. This is a relatively basic fundamental coaching point, but can be a hard habit for some receivers to break.

How he fits at Alabama: In a wide receiver room going through significant offseason turnover for the second year in a row, Rogers should establish himself in the rotation in short order. That doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll be a weekly starter, but there’s no reason to think he won’t see plenty of playing time.

As we move into NFL Draft season soon, here’s a really good post from an external NFL guy doing a massive deep dive on Ty Simpson. I highly recommend giving it a full read.

The statistics portion of this Deeper Dive should make my opinion on this player very clear: if there was any chance that I would grade Ty Simpson highly as an NFL Draft Prospect, it’s not going to happen in 2026 with his combination of experience and a poor finish to the 2025 CFB Season. There was a question on one of my Reddit promotional threads recently asking who is the superior prospect between Kenny Pickett and Simpson, and I thought the answer – not who was better but why – spoke well towards my issue with Ty Simpson. From almost any objective measurement, Pickett is not only a superior prospect but a significantly better prospect. Pickett had a superior build (6’ 3”, 220 lbs), was similarly mobile with that build, and I would argue had more natural arm talent. Pickett was also an experienced QB (49 GS) who dominated his final year in College for the duration of the Season. Simpson scores more highly in processing specific NFL Concepts. I don’t want to underscore that, because if Simpson can do some of the more difficult things, then maybe he can continue to grow and mature. But I don’t know if it is exactly unfair to ask the question: How much do you have to like Simpson’s ability to find a backside Dig in order for it to off-set someone who is objectively a long way away from Kenny Pickett.

There’s a lot of positive about Ty, but that final line is a zinger.

Finally, with the Super Bowl set, Alabama has seven former players set to play:

The New England Patriots defeated the Denver Broncos on the road by a score of 10-7. Defensive tackle Christian Barmore, linebacker Anfernee Jennings, and tight end CJ Dippre will represent the Tide in Super Bowl LX as a member of the Patriots, as each player made a significant impact throughout their time at Alabama.

Barmore was credited with 15 solo tackles and 2 sacks during the 2025 campaign, as all three former Alabama playmakers will now have a shot at becoming Super Bowl champions in the near future.

Former Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe, defensive back Josh Jobe, tight end Robbie Ouzts and defensive tackle Jarran Reed will all represent the Tide as a member of the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl LX. Milroe was nothing short of a star throughout his time in Tuscaloosa, as the talented playmaker was a crucial component to the Tide’s Rose Bowl run during head coach Nick Saban’s final year in 2023.

Barmore and Jennings have been regular players for the Patriots this season. And for the Seahawks, Jarran Reed has been an immortal presence at defensive tackle for a decade now, Josh Jobe has had a career resurrection as a legitimate starting NFL corner, and Robbie Ouzts made the transition to fullback where he’s been getting 20 or so snaps per game.

Roll Tide to all!