Alabama Football: Crimson Tide's 2015 Offseason Checklist

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — There is, of course, no offseason in college football, but we’re at the part of the calendar year that is about as close as you can get.

Over the next three months, coaches are not allowed to do organized, on-field work with their teams, but a lot of players still stick around on campus to take some summer classes and put together training sessions on their own time.

Teams are also allowed to hold off-field meetings, but no live football action will take place until fall camp gears up in August.

So what all can be accomplished during these summer months? Here’s an offseason checklist for Alabama. 

Continued Quarterback Development

Butch Dill/Associated Press

The major item to take care of in the personnel department will be under center, where Alabama has a couple of promising candidates, but none that appear ready to take over the job and lead the team.

Jake Coker and David Cornwell look like the front-runners, and the offseason will be an extremely critical time for both of them.

Last summer was the only opportunity Coker had to get in the playbook and be around his teammates, since he didn’t get to campus until May. Now, he’s officially had a full calendar year under his belt and can hone his knowledge and instincts before putting on pads again.

For Cornwell, who is just now recovered from knee surgery and an ankle injury, he can continue to develop chemistry with Alabama’s deep crop of wide receivers.

Pursuit of Grad Transfers?

Jay LaPrete/Associated Press

Nick Saban didn’t rule out the possibility of adding a transfer or two over the summer who could play right away.

“If there was somebody out there that I thought could help our team—we have a spot or two available that we could probably—but it would have to be the right person, in the right place that could make a contribution,” he said. “Because that would be something that would have to be good for that person and it would have to be good for us.”

Of course, the unspoken elephant in the room was Braxton Miller, the Ohio State quarterback and former Big Ten Player of the Year who could decide to leave Columbus this offseason. It looks unlikely that he’ll end up in Tuscaloosa, but he would certainly make the biggest splash.

Outside of Miller, it wouldn’t be crazy to think that Alabama may want to add a running back, either, with the losses it’s taken at that position. With schools holding graduations in the coming weeks, now is the time to go find a player who would fit Saban’s criteria for a summer add.

Get Summer Enrollees on Track

The rest of Alabama’s No. 1 2015 signing class will get to campus in the coming weeks or months, depending on their individual situations.

While enrolling in January gives players an entire semester to adjust to college life before being thrown into the in-season fall blender, it’s not unheard of, either, for players fresh out of high school to make an impact coming in over the summer.

The Crimson Tide should have a couple who could qualify in that category, like wide receiver Calvin Ridley or running back Damien Harris.

Those two and the rest of Alabama’s signing class will be able to adjust and adapt over the summer before fall camp starts up in August.

Recruiting

Brynn Anderson/Associated Press

Recruiting never stops, and you could argue that it only intensifies in the summertime.

Last week alone, Alabama sent out 15 scholarship offers to prospects in three different grade levels. Coaches are restricted from how much they can work with their own players, so they have plenty of time to hit the road to visit future players in person.

Offensive line coach Mario Cristobal, for example, tweeted at 3:44 a.m. CT on Wednesday that he was up and at 'em in South Florida looking for the "next Amari Cooper."

In Tuscaloosa, Alabama will hold two football camps for high school-age players, once from May 31 to June 3, and again in mid-July. It's a chance for Crimson Tide coaches to get an up-close look at some top prospects, while getting them to campus to start selling them on Tuscaloosa and Alabama.

Stay out of Trouble

Butch Dill/Associated Press

In the offseason, no news is good news.

After the rough spring Alabama’s had, it would do well to stay out of the headlines during the dull, summer months, where the news cycle couldn’t be more barren.

The official count from the spring was four arrests, two dismissals and one exasperated coach. It was a major black eye for Saban and a Crimson Tide program that had managed to remain mostly out of the headlines for the wrong reasons before that run.

It’s safe to assume Saban made sure to get the message through to his players as much as he could before the summer.

Marc Torrence is the Alabama lead writer for Bleacher Report. All quotes and reporting were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

Follow on Twitter @marctorrence.