Kalen DeBoer Keeps Internal Competition After Kicker Refused to Leave

Resilience seems to be the hottest trend in Tuscaloosa this off-season. Even after getting tagged as statistically one of the worst (if not the worst) kickers in all the SEC last season (2025), the Alabama Crimson Tide’s kicker Conor Talty decided to stay put instead of jumping elsewhere, despite the arrival of FCS’s best kicker in Lorcan Quinn. Word is, according to head honcho Kalen DeBoer, this is a legit 50/50 battle for the starting kicker gig between the heart and talent, and he’s all for it.

“When you bring in someone else, it’s open competition,” Kalen DeBoer declared of the competition between Conor Talty and Marshall-transfer Lorcan Quinn. “It’s pretty obvious to Conor that’s the case. What I love about Conor is that he didn’t shy away from it. He decided to stay here. He knew he could of had plenty of time to leave if he wanted to.

[Connor] wanted to. He wanted to stay here. He’s got it in him. Just continue to battle and you know, like that competition there, and I like we’re going to be good. I know we’re gonna be good, no matter who it is and whoever wins out because both of them have a pretty high ceiling.”

While Kalen DeBoer praised Talty for not chickening out, let’s not sugarcoat how rough that 2025 season really was for them in the first place. After years of being spoiled by guys like legendary Will Reichard, the drop-off to sophomore Conor Talty was a very much-needed cold splash of reality check. He came in with big expectations, but by the time the season was in full swing, things had already gone south for him.

Kalen DeBoer says there is an open kicker competition between Conor Talty and Lorcan Quinn, and praised Talty for staying.

“What I love about Conor is he didn’t shy away from it… he had plenty of time to leave if he wanted to, he wanted to stay here. He’s got it in him.” pic.twitter.com/HNb6Rg501c

— Theodore Fernandez (@TheoFernandez__) March 27, 2026

The Chicago native was sitting right at the bottom of the SEC, at 16 out of 17th out of qualifying kickers in the SEC, hitting only about 69% (16-23%) of his field goals. Only Texas A&M’s Randy Bond (63.2%) and Jared Zirkel (57.1%) had lower percentages among the primary options. The frustration peaked during a late-season game against Eastern Illinois and their upset loss against Oklahoma in back-to-back weeks. Talty missed a 36-yarder in their 2-point loss to Brent Venables’ men, then followed with a 20-yard miss against the Panthers.

This lack of a reliable leg totally messed with the team’s offensive rhythm. Usually, a coach like Kalen DeBoer can play it safe, get to the 20-yard line, and bank on three points. But because the kicking was so hit-or-miss, the playbook had to change. They started going for it on fourth down way more often because they simply didn’t trust the field goal unit.

Eventually, the staff had seen enough and made the move to freshman Peter Notaro. While Notaro didn’t get a ton of chances to show off his range before the season wrapped up, the fact that they benched their starter mid-game tells you everything you need to know about how bad things had gotten.

Alabama finished the season 11–4, and while you can’t blame every loss on one guy obviously, those missed points and the weird play-calling shifts definitely played a big-part in the team’s struggles.

Out of all the head coaches in Power 4, Kalen DeBoer knows very well that isn’t going to cut it in their highly anticipated Big 2026. Not to mention, with his job security on the line, the former Washington head coach took a flier on a 25-year-old transfer from Marshall. Fun fact: Quinn is a former Gaelic football player from Ireland. And his statistics from last season are eye-pleasing and appalling.

The Irish man earned First Team All-Sun Belt honors after hitting 21-of-26 field goals (80.8%), which included a monster 55-yarder. Moreover, he’s also a kickoff specialist’s dream. He was averaging about 64.8 yards per kick with an incredible 85.9% touchback rate for his Thundering Herd. DeBoer is keeping the rotation strictly 50/50 during spring ball to see who blinks first.

How’s the competition going between the two kickers?

Right now, DeBoer says there’s no leader yet because both guys are going toe-to-toe and have such a “high ceiling.” the staff is charting every “routine” kick to see who is the most consistent from inside 40 yards out of these two. Needless to say, Quinn’s experience and his ability is kick the pigskin is second to none in that Bama kicker room, but Talty’s familiarity with the Alabama snap-and-hold operation gives him a slight chemistry advantage, at-least for now.

However, credit must be given where it’s due. If Talty had said kick the rocks and dipped elsewhere, he would have gotten a starting gig in 95% of the Power 4 conference schools. End of the day, this competition is about fixing the “one or two plays” that cost the team points last season.

By forcing Talty and Quinn to look over their shoulders every day, the coaches are simulating the pressure of a Saturday in Tuscaloosa. It’s basically an “iron sharpens iron” scenario that ensures Alabama will have one of the most reliable kicking games in the country regardless of who trots out for the first field goal. That said, fans are waiting for the A-Day spring game on April 11th to see which one of these big legs finally pulls ahead in the race!

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