Kalen DeBoer's Alabama faces another loss to transfer portal

The Alabama Crimson Tide, under embattled coach Kalen DeBoer, finished year one without the legendary Nick Saban 9-4 after losing 19-13 to the Michigan Wolverines in the ReliaQuest Bowl. The first-year Alabama coach has had a mixed season with incredible highs, including beating the Georgia Bulldogs and the LSU Tigers while losing to the Vanderbilt Commodores and Oklahoma Sooners.

The bad news continued to pile in for Alabama fans on Friday when On3 analyst Pete Nakos reported on X (formerly known as Twitter) that freshman EDGE Jayshawn Ross planned to enter the transfer portal.

Ross was a four-star recruit from Liberty North and was the No. 144-ranked prospect in the Class of 2024, contributing to the Crimson Tide's No. 2-ranked 2024 class.

Since last month, 17 Alabama players have entered the transfer portal, with 14 finding new programs. Ross follows the latest entrants into the portal, wide receivers Jaren Hamilton and Amari Jefferson, who entered the portal after the Crimson Tide lost the ReliaQuest Bowl to the Wolverines.

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Kalen DeBoer addresses losing players to Michigan

Kalen DeBoer lost two players to first-year coach Sherrone Moore's Michigan Wolverines via the transfer portal. Defensive tackle Damon Payne Jr. and the top-ranked running back in the portal, Justice Haynes, departed for Ann Arbor, according to On3.

During his news conference before the ReliaQuest Bowl, DeBoer addressed the crucial player losses to the Wolverines.

"Tough question," DeBoer said. "Yeah, I'm just going to say this: I'm always going to wish the guys that are in our program the best, and those are two really good solid young men. Always going to wish them the best.

"I hear the word 'fit' coming from Coach Moore's talk here, and that's what you always hope, is that the college experience for anyone that you get to coach, you want it to be in your program.

"You want it to be a lead in your program, but ultimately this time comes and goes really fast, so I'm always going to wish the guys the best that were part of the year that we had here or anytime I've coached throughout my career."

As he enters year two as the successor to the retired Nick Saban as coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide, Kalen DeBoer is under the microscope, and losing a player like Justice Haynes to the Michigan Wolverines will not be the best way to answer the doubters.