What Alabama’s wide receiver coach is seeing that makes him see ‘my goodness’

Alabama football’s wide receiver coach JaMarcus Shephard wants the Crimson Tide’s wide receivers to embody what he loved when he was a player.

“I was told that your players should emulate who you were as a player,” Shephard told Touchdown Alabama at the Crimson Tide’s Media Day. “And so, although I may not have been as fast as Ryan Williams, but ultimately the big thing is the blocking piece of it. I pride in myself on being a tough, physical blocker. And to me, when you block physically, then now you open them up for opportunities for you to run routes because they’re nervous about what you’re gonna do in the blocking game. That’s the piece of our group that right now, as I see it on tape, I am saying, my goodness, we got a chance. Our offensive line, they better be physical. Our defense the line better be physical. But when the receivers are physical as well then that’s when you know you have a physical football team.”

Blocking is a ‘pre-requisite’ to play wide receiver at Alabama under Ryan Grubb. The new Alabama offensive coordinator wants physicality to be a trademark of his offense in Tuscaloosa, and it is drilled every day.

“That part of our game from a circuit or a drill work standpoint, is something I know as a staff, that we work every week, every day,” Grubb said. “The point I made the other day in the unit meeting was I said, when I was here in the spring, and we were going through practice, it felt like we had to find a guy to pick and point out like, that’s what it should look like. That was the guy that was standing out. Now, it’s just a guy not doing it right, tight hands, isn’t a good base and things like that. Now, he’s the guy’s standing on. The room is completely flipped. I think it’s a belief system in the room and they certainly capture that.”

Alabama football is expected to have an explosive offense under Grubb in 2025, but the veteran coordinator wants the group to be physical as well.