Kalen DeBoer sees the same thing everyone watching Alabama has seen through the first seven weeks of 2026: the Crimson Tide have two kickers pushing each other, and both are getting better because of it.
Conor Talty, after an uneven 2025 season, has been sharp in his second year with Alabama. He is 10-for-10 on field goal attempts and 32-for-32 on extra points so far this season, turning into a steady weapon for the Tide in a way he wasn’t a year ago.
DeBoer said the offseason battle between Talty and Lorcan Quinn helped fuel that turnaround.
“Competition brings out the best in you.” DeBoer said.
“And that’s one example where you got two high end guys, coach Nunez did a really great job at recruiting and retaining, I guess when you look at each of them. Doing a good job of letting them go at it back and forth, and they did it in a great, healthy, competitive way, and really made each other better.
You can see what Lorcan continues to do, you see the explosiveness in his leg on kickoffs. Seeing those guys appreciate what they all bring to the table and seeing them work everyday, you love that about our team.”
Quinn arrived at Alabama from Marshall in January and came in with a strong reputation after being viewed as one of the Sun Belt Conference’s top kickers last season. Since then, the two have stayed consistent across the first half of 2026, and DeBoer believes their drive to beat one another has been a big part of why Alabama’s kicking game has been so reliable.
In Other News...
Alabama's New Rotation Already Has A Few Names Fans Need To Watch
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The box score from that first half told a clear story about opportunity, with several Alabama players logging meaningful minutes and filling up different areas of the stat sheet. Points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks all helped sketch out the early rotation picture, even if the game itself was only a preseason checkpoint, and the bigger question now is which of those names keeps holding that space once the games start to count. [Read more 🡒]
Alabama May Need An Untested Freshman In Secondary Vs Texas A&M
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If Brown cant go, the next man up may be one of the freshmen. Jorden Edmonds and Zyan Gibson, both highly recruited out of high school, are in the mix to see their first significant action, giving Alabama a young option at a spot where experience usually matters most. [Read more 🡒]
Alabama Gets A Telling SP+ Outlook With Pressure Rising Fast
With the Texas A&M game looming, Alabama is treating this stretch like the beginning of its College Football Playoff push. The Crimson Tide sit No. 13 in the major polls, which leaves little margin for error, and the visit from an Aggies team that has been uneven for much of the season still carries enough weight to shape how the rest of the year is judged.
ESPN analyst Bill Connellys SP+ model still likes Alabama to get the job done, giving the Tide a 76% chance to win. But Texas A&M has climbed a bit in the metric lately, which adds some intrigue to a matchup Alabama cant afford to treat lightly if it wants to stay in the playoff conversation. [Read more 🡒]