Conor Talty
By November, a chunk of Bryant-Denny was cheering when other kickers trotted onto the field — like a backup's warmup was a touchdown. Conor Talty was the most-booed man on a College Football Playoff team, the kicker who got caught berating his own long-snapper on national TV. Then he turned down the portal, stayed, and told Alabama to make him win the job back.
By November, a chunk of Bryant-Denny was cheering when other kickers trotted onto the field — like a backup's warmup was a touchdown. Conor Talty was the most-booed man on a College Football Playoff team, the kicker who got caught berating his own long-snapper on national TV. Then he turned down the portal, stayed, and told Alabama to make him win the job back.
The story everyone in Tuscaloosa is still chewing on isn't a stat — it's a sound. After Talty missed against Oklahoma and was caught on ESPN cameras chewing out long-snapper David Bird on his way off the field, the next home crowd booed him before extra points and erupted when a backup warmed up. DeBoer publicly pushed back — "I wish they'd have his back like I know our locker room has his back" — and that coach-versus-fanbase split has become the through-line of his offseason.
The receipts cut both ways. Talty finished 2025 at just 69.6% on field goals with a long of 46, a number that screams replaceable for a program that expects perfection. But the same season produced the counter-evidence: a redemption swing in the Iron Bowl, where he drilled a 45-yarder into the breeze, and DeBoer's trust paying off in the Playoff win over Oklahoma. He didn't shy from the heat — he had the window to leave and didn't. "He knew he had plenty of time to leave if he wanted to," DeBoer said. "He wanted to stay here."
Now Alabama has brought in Lorcan Quinn, the Northern Irishman who was one of the nation's best at Marshall, and DeBoer has declared it flat-out: "It's open competition." Through spring the two traded reps with no clear leader. So the boards have their question for 2026 — can the most-booed kicker in college football quiet his own stadium and beat out a sharpshooter for the job, or is the redemption arc about to end with someone else's leg?
How he plays
A traditional placekicker with a workmanlike leg — accurate enough to be trusted on a Playoff team, streaky enough to lose a fanbase. With no play-by-play percentile profile on file, the read is scouting-grade: 2025 landed at 69.6% on field goals with a long of 46, the range of a kicker who's reliable inside 40 and a coin-flip beyond it. The tell in his game isn't the leg, it's the temperament — he visibly wore his misses in 2025, and the swing between berating a teammate after one miss and burying a 45-yarder into the wind the next week is exactly the volatility DeBoer is trying to coach out. The 2026 question is whether the mechanics hold under a competition built to test his nerve.
- Yahoo Sports — Can Conor Talty hang on to Alabama's kicker job? 'It's open competition'
- BroBible — Alabama players condemn fans for booing Talty after he exploded on teammate
- Sports Illustrated — Conor Talty Finds Redemption for Alabama in Iron Bowl
- Pro Football Network — Kalen DeBoer Doubles Down on Conor Talty Support Despite Alabama Fans' Hate
The story
The story everyone in Tuscaloosa is still chewing on isn't a stat — it's a sound. After Talty missed against Oklahoma and was caught on ESPN cameras chewing out long-snapper David Bird on his way off the field, the next home crowd booed him before extra points and erupted when a backup warmed up. DeBoer publicly pushed back — "I wish they'd have his back like I know our locker room has his back" — and that coach-versus-fanbase split has become the through-line of his offseason.
The receipts cut both ways. Talty finished 2025 at just 69.6% on field goals with a long of 46, a number that screams replaceable for a program that expects perfection. But the same season produced the counter-evidence: a redemption swing in the Iron Bowl, where he drilled a 45-yarder into the breeze, and DeBoer's trust paying off in the Playoff win over Oklahoma. He didn't shy from the heat — he had the window to leave and didn't. "He knew he had plenty of time to leave if he wanted to," DeBoer said. "He wanted to stay here."
Now Alabama has brought in Lorcan Quinn, the Northern Irishman who was one of the nation's best at Marshall, and DeBoer has declared it flat-out: "It's open competition." Through spring the two traded reps with no clear leader. So the boards have their question for 2026 — can the most-booed kicker in college football quiet his own stadium and beat out a sharpshooter for the job, or is the redemption arc about to end with someone else's leg?
SOURCES
- Yahoo Sports — Can Conor Talty hang on to Alabama's kicker job? 'It's open competition'
- BroBible — Alabama players condemn fans for booing Talty after he exploded on teammate
- Sports Illustrated — Conor Talty Finds Redemption for Alabama in Iron Bowl
- Pro Football Network — Kalen DeBoer Doubles Down on Conor Talty Support Despite Alabama Fans' Hate
Career Arc
Coaching Lineage · 2023–2025
2 coachesCoaching transition mid-career: Nick Saban → Kalen DeBoer. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
2025 snapshot
Season context · Team result + system
Splits & context
Supporting Cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Kalen DeBoer
Career stats
| Season | Team | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 9/12 (75%) | 7/10 (70%) | 0/1 | |
| Career | 9/12 (75%) | 7/10 (70%) | 0/1 |
Signature game
SIGNATURE GAME · Week 5 · 2025
W 24–21
at Georgia
50 PCT · 24 LONG · 6 PTS
A wire-to-wire battle — won by 3 on the road.
How he plays
Play style
A traditional placekicker with a workmanlike leg — accurate enough to be trusted on a Playoff team, streaky enough to lose a fanbase. With no play-by-play percentile profile on file, the read is scouting-grade: 2025 landed at 69.6% on field goals with a long of 46, the range of a kicker who's reliable inside 40 and a coin-flip beyond it. The tell in his game isn't the leg, it's the temperament — he visibly wore his misses in 2025, and the swing between berating a teammate after one miss and burying a 45-yarder into the wind the next week is exactly the volatility DeBoer is trying to coach out. The 2026 question is whether the mechanics hold under a competition built to test his nerve.
Our classifier reads him the same way: handles his kicks without drama.
2026 Outlook
Alabama
2026 Depth chart
Returning starter
Kicker · Alabama · editorial
Returning around him
- 10 Alabama players drafted to NFL
- Transfer portal: -7 net (17 in / 24 out)
2026 Award watch
- Groza
Alabama · Last season: 11-4 (AP #11) · Talent rank #2 · 2026 recruiting class #2
Perception vs tape
The story everyone in Tuscaloosa is still chewing on isn't a stat — it's a sound. After Talty missed against Oklahoma and was caught on ESPN cameras chewing out long-snapper David Bird on his way off the field, the next home crowd booed him before extra points and erupted when a backup warmed up.
Read the story →DNA match
Player DNA
Steady
Handles his kicks without drama.
His 2025 production profile sits closest to Luke Drzewiecki’s 2022 season.
Matches Luke on
Differs from Luke on
Not enough data yet for this comparison.
As a junior, his production profile tracks closest to Jonah Delange's junior season at UAB (2025).
Matches Jonah on
Differs from Jonah on
Background
NIL Opportunities 2025 Secured the starting placekicker role and played in all 15 games ... also handled kickoff duties ... accumulated 96 points on 16-of-23 field goals and 48 PATs in as many attempts ... totaled 4,688 yards and 42 touchbacks across 74 kickoffs ... selected as a special teams pl...