Alabama NewsCenter 2022 football preview: University of West Alabama
Returning first team all-conference running back Demetrius Battle will be a key to West Alabama's offensive attack this season. (University of West Alabama Athletics)
The West Alabama football team was on a roll when the 2021 season began. Unfortunately, the Tigers’ train got off track at the end.
“We started out 6-0 for the first time in school history,” coach Brett Gilliland said. “Obviously, that was a good thing. Then, for a lot of different factors, we dropped to 7-4 by the end of the year. The second half of our season was disappointing by our standards.”
Lack of depth and injuries were factors in the team going 1-4 in its final five games.
“The end result was we felt like we started out really well and then didn’t finish well,” Gilliland said. “That’s obviously a thing of note for this year.”
Alabama NewsCenter is taking a look at the upcoming college football season. Today, it is focused on Division II West Alabama.
Alabama NewsCenter: What are the prospects for this season?
Brett Gilliland: It’s always difficult to know in this level, and especially in this conference, where you’ll stack up when you’re just going against yourself. Everybody’s roster changed so drastically year to year. I like this year’s team. I think we have a really good nucleus of guys that have played a lot for us. Obviously, we have a lot of new guys as well. Just trying to get all of that meshed together so that the 11 guys that are on the field at the same time for the first time together, just trying to get them all on the same page and playing well as a unit. That is something that just comes with time. First off, we’ve gotta figure out who those starting 11 are and which guys are in rotation. But I like the group we have. I like their bond with each other. I like their mindset with our program goals and standards and I like them athletically. It’s gonna be a growing process as we continue through preseason camp.
ANC: What is the strength of this year’s team?
Gilliland: It’s really kind of unique because we have some leaders in every position that are returning. We have three starting offensive linemen returning, which means obviously we’re going to play two new guys. But I think that unit has a chance to be good. Our running back room is probably as good as as it’s been, top to bottom. We’ve got Demetrius Battle, who was first team all-conference last year, returning. Then Ta’Bryious Webb has been with us for a little bit. Then Tony Brown, who we signed at midyear out of the Mississippi junior college system. We really like our running back room. I think they have a chance to be a strength for us. Then it’s really just kind of evenly distributed. It’s not like there’s one group that really stands out and shines.
ANC: Who are your team’s standouts?
Gilliland: I think we’d have to put Demetrius Battle at running back in that group. Kordell Watts, Delvin Salter and Jalen Gardner are our three returning offensive lineman starters. They would definitely be in that group. Owen Harper and Caeleb Bass are returning tight ends for us. We use (that position) a whole lot within our offense. Darius Nalls is our lone starting receiver that’s coming back. He had a really, really good early last year, got injured and banged up a little bit. We’ve got a chance for him to definitely be one of those that shine. Defensively, Shamar Lewis is returning captain in the secondary. T.J. Newell has been playing really good at corner and Mike Anderson is probably our overall leader on the defense at linebacker. Those guys would obviously be ones that we need to shine.
ANC: What game(s) do your fans have circled on your schedule?
Gilliland: This year is unique in the fact that we’re playing both Tuskegee and Miles early in the season. We’re the only three Division II teams left in the state of Alabama. I’ve made a big push to try to get us three teams to play every year. It’d be great if we came up with a state championship trophy or something that we could (swap) between us three. That would give our fans even more to look forward to. Those are two great programs within the state and I think those are kind of no-brainer, out-of-conference games for us travel-wise and competition-wise. With those two both being on our schedule, obviously our fans see those and recognize those. Then we get into conference play. West Georgia is our first conference opponent. They probably have as much coming back as anybody and they’re always well-coached. Valdosta State went to the finals this past year and lost in the championship game. Any time you’ve got a team that just played for the championship on your schedule – which we end up having a lot in this league – that’s always a big game. West Florida‘s two years removed from a national championship, so that’s always a big game. … Delta State is always a big rival and we get to play them twice this year because of how the conference schedule worked out. Top to bottom, this conference always is what it is.
ANC: What is your lingering question?
Gilliland: Who’s gonna be that trigger guy? Who’s gonna be the quarterback? We’ve got Jake Corkren, who has been in the program for a couple years but never played in a college game. He’s had a really good spring and is having a really good fall camp. Then we have two new guys in the program with Tucker Melton, who transferred in, and Spencer Arceneaux, who transferred in this summer. They’re getting their first reps within our offense. It’s three very talented guys. We’ve got a few younger guys behind them with Jackson Abbott and Alex Young, who just got to us from Pleasant Grove. He took his team to the state championship game last year. It’s a very athletic room. It’s a very young room. It’s a fun competition to watch because they’re all doing some good things.
Alabama NewsCenter is posting season previews for all 16 college football programs in Alabama. Read previews for Jacksonville State University, the University of North Alabama, Alabama State University, Birmingham-Southern College, Samford University, Faulkner University and Tuskegee University, and look for a new preview each weekday.
