Kalen DeBoer liked the play, but he liked the lesson even more.
After Alabama freshman running back EJ Crowell put on a show at Bryant-Denny Stadium by hurdling a defender in Saturday’s game against Florida State, DeBoer addressed the move Wednesday night on his “Hey Coach” radio show. His message centered on the same thing coaches always come back to when a back leaves his feet: control, protection, and making sure the highlight doesn’t turn into a problem.
“The No. 1 thing -- obviously there's a safety piece to it -- but the No. 1 thing is, and I showed the team this, the ball a lot of times comes away from the body,” DeBoer said Wednesday evening during his 'Hey Coach' radio show. “So you lose your protection, you're trying to keep balance so you probably can land and even run from there.
“We just got to be smart when we're in those spots. But guys -- some guys, I've coached for many years -- some guys have a really good knack of it and can turn it into a weapon. A couple of these guys have done a nice job with that.”
Crowell’s hurdle immediately drew attention, and former Alabama back Najee Harris was mentioned as one Tide runner who made that kind of move part of his game. Another former Alabama running back, Trent Richardson, took a different view when he talked about Crowell this week on The Dynasty podcast.
“My biggest thing about EJ -- I love that kid, he is creative, he got a bounce to him -- I just want him to stay his ass on the ground,” Richardson said this week during The Dynasty podcast. “Because, listen, I've never been big on jumping.
We used to get on Eddie [Lacy] for spinning all the time. If that's his game, that's his game.
If it works for him. I just don't want to see the kid get hurt.
Knock on wood. We need him.
“As much as he do with the ball in his hands, man, that scares me every time you get up in the air. You lose power, too.
The kid is athletic as hell, too. He jumped damn near six feet in the area, in the sky, when he had to get up and go over somebody's head because they're going for his knees, and I get it.
And he got another three yards, too. I'm complaining but I'm not complaining at the same time because he made a play.”
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