This week, our 2025 Alabama Preview concludes with an analysis of the special teams units.
As stated in previous articles in this series, in recent years, we’ve waited until fall camp began to take a look at the upcoming team, giving the coaches every possible second to finalize a pre-camp roster. This has led to content droughts, however, so we’ve chosen to break up the 2025 Alabama team preview into eight segments, following our traditional eight-category game previews.
This week, we are focusing on the kicking game, which is unique among the eight categories we preview. Unlike the others, there will be no ranking of the players against one another, simply a discussion of where the depth chart was at the end of spring practice and what fans can expect heading into fall with roster additions and subtractions. In addition, all players at the key positions – placekicker, punter, longsnapper and holder – will be discussed, whether they are on scholarship or not.
SPECIAL TEAMS (Rating: Av)
Placekickers
Starter: #31 Conor Talty (So., 6-1, 195)
Analysis: Talty served as Alabama’s kickoff specialist for much of 2024, and was the primary backup to Graham Nicholson. Talty, who was heavily recruited and is on scholarship, didn’t initially display the raw leg strength he was advertised to have, but over the course of 2024 became a reliable kickoff specialist and appeared to have good accuracy on his placement kicks. In the spring, Talty seemed to have improved all facets of his game, from raw power to accuracy and the ability to work angles. He finished the spring well ahead of the others on this list.
Reserves: #97 Reid Schuback (Sr., 6-0, 215); #98 Tucker Cornelius (RFr., 6-3, 195), #37 Peter Notaro (Fr., 5-11, 188)
Analysis: There is a chance Reid Schuback could wind up the kickoff specialist in 2025 if Alabama elects not to expose its starter to possible injury on kickoff coverage. Schuback has a strong leg on kickoffs but lacks Talty’s height or ball-spin consistency on most of his placement kicks. He’s a thick body, though, who might be helpful in a coverage situation. We didn’t see much of Tucker Cornelius in the spring, other than to say he’s closer to Schuback than Schuback is to Talty. The interesting name here is the new one, Peter Notaro, a Kohl’s Camp attendee who can also punt.
Punters
Starter: #38 Blake Doud (Sr., 6-5, 205)
Analysis: Doud is a graduate transfer from the Colorado School of Mines, which may be the leader of the College All-Name Team. He’s a big guy and has some impressive tape from his previous stop. At A-Day, Doud looked good but not great, although as the scrimmage went on he was able to generate more length on his kicks than at the start. He’s not going to be James Burnip, but Alabama has been spoiled the last couple of years and was due a minor step back.
Reserves: #32 Alex Asparuhov (Fr., 6-3, 200); #95 Anderson Green (RFr., 6-0, 205)
Analysis: One of the reasons for taking Doud’s transfer is that Asparuhov, one of the top punter recruits in the country, injured a leg after signing with Alabama and may not be able to kick in 2025. As a result of the injury, we saw none of what Asparuhov can do this spring. Anderson Green alternated with Nick Serpa as Burnip’s backup in 2024. He appeared to struggle with kick distance last year and at A-Day, the story was much the same. Assuming Asparuhov is not available, there will be a significant drop-off if something were to happen to Doud.
Longsnappers
Competing: #45 David Bird (Jr., 6-0, 205); #52 Alex Rozier (Sr., 6-4, 205); #46 Jay Williams (RFr., 6-0, 195)
Analysis: There is no clear starter here yet, although David Bird was signed as a transfer from California to take the spot. He was injured in the spring, and as a result, long-time reserve Alex Rozier appeared to step forward and take the spot, edging out Jay Williams. Both Rozier and Williams looked capable at A-Day, but Bird comes with a stronger resume. We expect Bird will take the spot in fall camp, but would not be surprised to see the veteran Rozier rewarded with the job, either.
Holders
Competing: #7 Cole Adams (WR, So., 5-10, 183), #38 Blake Doud (P, Sr., 6-5, 205), #32 Jay Loper Jr. (WR, Jr., 5-11, 185), #16 Cade Carruth (QB, Jr., 6-1, 215), #19 John Cooper (QB, RFr., 6-2, 195)
Analysis: In recent years, teams have preferred to have specialists hold for specialists, due mostly to the fact that they practice with each other regularly and using a position player as the holder requires that player to be taken away from his respective position group in order to practice with the kickers. Having said that, we have no idea how good Blake Doud (or Alex Asparuhov, or Anderson Green) are at holding, which is an art form unto itself. It could also be that Alabama uses a backup placekicker for that role. We’ve chosen to list other players we think are in the mix, but only one of them – wide receiver Cole Adams – is a known quantity. Adams held for several games in 2024 before he was lost to injury, which put punter James Burnip back in action at the spot. Other possibilities include walk-on receiver Jay Loper Jr. and walk-on quarterbacks Cade Carruth and John Cooper. In Carruth’s case, he dressed for most games last year (including all home games) as an emergency fourth quarterback, and Loper also dressed for multiple games.