Alabama’s trip to Mississippi State on Saturday will look a little different, but Kalen DeBoer says the reasoning is pretty simple: the Tide are sticking with what has worked before.
DeBoer said Wednesday evening on his weekly “Hey Coach” radio show that Alabama will spend Friday night in Tuscaloosa before heading to Starkville on Saturday morning for the 11 a.m. CT kickoff. He pointed to the program’s previous approach as the main reason for the decision.
"Some of it was, I just trusted what was done before here," DeBoer said. "2023 it was done the same way, [staying] here in Tuscaloosa."
Alabama’s last visit to Davis Wade Stadium came in 2023, when the game kicked off at night. The Crimson Tide’s most recent 11 a.m. CT game in Starkville was in 2019, the matchup when Tua Tagovailoa injured his hip.
This time around, Alabama chose its usual home-game team hotel in Tuscaloosa instead of staying in the limited hotel options around Starkville and Columbus, Mississippi.
"You want those accommodations and things like that when it comes to meeting rooms and such," DeBoer said. "We have that here with our hotel and all that.
"When it comes to staying at a place that suits what we need, I don't know if those places kind of fulfill those expectations. Other teams have been staying here in Tuscaloosa recently as they come through heading up that way.
Again, it's been done before. Just as recently as three years ago.
It worked then. We got to make sure we continue to stay with that.
I guess I just trusted a lot of what we've done in the past, and that's the best way to do it."
The drive from Tuscaloosa to Starkville is about 85 miles and usually takes around 90 minutes, though DeBoer said Alabama’s police escort can shorten that.
"I've checked how long of a trip it is, too, but I'm always accounting it's a little bit quicker with the way we will roll with the buses and everything that goes along with us," DeBoer said.
DeBoer also noted Wednesday that players generally report to the facility at 6:45 a.m. CT during the season, though plenty arrive earlier.
Under DeBoer, Alabama practices at 9 a.m. CT, a shift from the afternoon schedule used under Nick Saban.
That early routine, safety Bray Hubbard said Tuesday, makes the logistics feel pretty normal for the team.
"We're used to getting up early and getting everything done," Hubbard said. "We're here during the week -- we usually get here 6 o'clock, in meetings by 7.
We're used to waking up early and having to get our engines going for an early practice. We're usually practicing by 9 o'clock.
Obviously, we'll stay here in Tuscaloosa. Quick little bus ride over there.
Kind of similar to if we were playing at Auburn. We always drive over from Montgomery to Auburn.
Very similar in that way."
In Other News...
Alabama Faces An O-Line Concern Heading Into Mississippi State
The SECs new injury reporting policy is already putting a little more light on Alabamas health picture as the Crimson Tide head into its conference game against Mississippi State. This weeks report lists right tackle Jayvin James as questionable, a note that matters on a front line where availability can shape everything from protection to play-calling, while other names around the roster are trending toward being available.
Alabamas overall injury list still has some longer-term concerns attached to it, too, with Jeremiah Beaman and Cayden Jones among the players confirmed to miss the 2026 season because of injuries. For a team navigating the grind of SEC play, the immediate question is less about the long view and more about how the Tide lines up at a spot that can change the tone of a game before it even settles in. [Read more 🡒]
Nick Saban Just Took Another Hard Line In The Pay Fight
Nick Saban used a recent appearance on ESPNs First Take to weigh in on the Protect College Sports Act, and the longtime Alabama coach made clear he sees the issue of athlete compensation through a different lens than many of the sports most vocal advocates. The proposal is designed to boost pay for student-athletes while also protecting womens and Olympic sports, and it would add more structure around topics such as transfer rules, eligibility limits and agent fees.
Sabans argument was rooted in the idea that player pay and coach pay operate in separate markets, with him comparing a students scholarship to a professors salary as part of his broader case. The legislation also includes a retention fund for athlete compensation, which puts the debate squarely at the intersection of fairness, roster stability and the future shape of college sports, the same terrain Saban has been challenging for years. [Read more 🡒]
SEC Discipline Debate Just Put Alabama Fans On Edge
Around the SEC and beyond, the line between a brief punishment and a longer one has become a talking point after a few recent disciplinary calls involving high-profile defenders. Texas edge rusher Colin Simmons drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for a vulgar celebration, and coach Steve Sarkisian handled it by briefly taking him out of the game without any further suspension, a response that stood in contrast to other cases drawing attention across college football.
For Alabama fans, the comparisons are hard to miss because the conference has already seen harsher fallout in similar moments. USC linebacker Desman Stephens was ejected for targeting and later suspended for a game after public backlash, while South Carolina went even further by suspending defensive player Dylan Stewart indefinitely after multiple incidents in a game against Alabama. With those examples lingering, the bigger question now is whether SEC programs are actually drawing a consistent line when emotions, danger and discipline collide. [Read more 🡒]