The Alabama Crimson Tide under Kalen DeBoer has struggled to run the ball with consistency over the last two years, but down the stretch of this past season was particularly a struggle for the offense on the ground.

It’s been one of the most widely discussed narratives surrounding the team this spring and looking at their chances this fall.

DeBoer knows he and the staff have to get it fixed if Alabama is going to get back to the top. He was asked about it directly during a recent interview with “The Next Round,” and he thinks it is well within the team’s control in order to get it fixed.

“Across the board, everyone takes some kind of ownership, it starts with me,” DeBoer said when trying to explain why the struggles have been there. He discussed how he and the staff have looked at the way they are practicing, the type of drills they run, the scheme, and interestingly, what kind of look the scout team is giving during practice.

“I’ve found that just generally speaking, not even just with the run game but if you just have a little improvement in all these different areas, it’s amazing what it can look like no matter what you’re doing and in this case we obviously have to be better with running the football.”

Clearly, the importance of running the football is not lost on DeBoer, and it does seem he and the staff have gone to the drawing board this offseason to try to get things solved in an area where Alabama used to be so dominant.

If they can prove it is solved, the Tide is going to have a great chance for a huge year, but if it isn’t, very real questions are going to start to be asked about DeBoer and his future in Tuscaloosa.

Michael Brauner is a Senior Sports Analyst and Contributing Writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @MBraunerWNSP and hear him every weekday morning from 6 to 9 a.m. on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5, available free online.