CJ Dippre details first season at Alabama, past experience vs. Michigan
PASADENA, Calif. – Alabama will face Michigan in the Rose Bowl semifinal in less than 48 hours. It will mark the first time the Crimson Tide and Wolverines have faced off since the 2019 postseason and only the sixth meeting between the two storied programs all-time.
But one of Alabama’s newer players, transfer tight end CJ Dippre, has faced Michigan twice in the last two seasons of his college career, having transferred to the Tide from Maryland.
“I had the opportunity to play Michigan twice, my freshman and sophomore years, so I’ve played against them and other Big Ten teams,” Dippre told BamaOnLine. “I think they’re a really good team. They have different players. I was there with (Aidan) Hutchinson and they were stacked up, but they’re a good team.
“They’re a powerhouse in the Big Ten, but I still do believe the SEC is the best college conference in the country.”
The Wolverines topped the Terrapins, 59-18, during Dippre’s freshman year, but he didn’t have any stats in that game. One year later, Michigan edged out Maryland, 34-27, and the tight end, now a sophomore, caught three passes for 49 yards and his first touchdown.
Having faced this team, albeit not the exact same defense as the last two seasons, Dippre shared his thoughts on what he’s seen on film as well as how UM defends tight ends.
“I think their defensive line is probably the strong point of the defense,” Dippre said. “(Kris Jenkins), their D-tackle, he plays out on the tight ends, so he’ll definitely be a handful when we come down in the run. But I think our preparation and skill, we’ll be able to handle it.”
Saturday morning’s Rose Bowl Media Day was the first time Dippre has talked to reporters since he joined the Tide program this time last year. He detailed his decision to commit.
“It’s been surreal,” Dippre said. “Everything you could dream of. Coach (Nick) Saban, everybody on the staff took a chance on me. They saw how I played at Maryland and they gave me an opportunity to come play for the best.
“The portal’s a newer thing, and it’s definitely a great thing. You see a lot of people entering it. A lot of things are about NIL, which I think is a great thing, but that’s not really why I entered. I entered to get a better chance for myself to go to the NFL, and it happened to be one of the best colleges in college football under the greatest coach in college football giving me an opportunity to come play for him.”
CJ Dippre (Gary Cosby Jr. / USA TODAY Sports)
Dippre has played in all 13 of Alabama’s contests, making 11 starts, leading up to the College Football Playoff semifinal. The junior from Scranton, Pa., has caught nine passes for 172 yards prior to the Rose Bowl and said he enjoys playing under coordinator Tommy Rees.
“Coach Rees wasn’t here when I initially came, but I’m so happy he came here,” Dippre said. “He’s a big tight end guy, from Notre Dame. I know a lot of people that he knows and I’m really excited. I love his play-calling, and I think I really fit in this offense.”
The Crimson Tide utilizes several tight ends and in a variety of ways. Dippre, Amari Niblack and Robbie Ouzts get the lion’s share of the work, but Danny Lewis has also played some and players like Miles Kitselman and freshman Ty Lockwood fill out the position unit.
“I love our group,” Dippre said. “I think we would be one of the tightest groups on our team. We always hang out. We always play cards. We always just go get something to eat.
“We’re a really close unit, and we all push each other to get better. Amari is more of the route runner. Me and Robbie are more of the blockers. So we kind of try to push off our knowledge in that aspect and make all of us one big unit.”
Before Alabama departed for California, another tight end joined the 2023 room in early enrollee Caleb Odom, who is the nation’s top-rated tight end according to On3 evaluators. Odom is going through his first collegiate practices, but so far, Dippre has been impressed.
“Caleb is young,” Dippre said. “He’s kind of shy, doesn’t talk that much. But he’s a great athlete. What I see is the kid knows how to run routes. He’s very fresh, very good on his legs, knows how to utilize his speed and his routes. I’m excited to see what he can do the next couple of years.”
Being a transfer himself, Dippre is unsure of what others will decide to do once the season is over, but he revealed he will be back for the 2024 campaign and believes Alabama’s tight end room has a chance to be even better next year given some of the pieces in place.
“Absolutely,” Dippre said. “I don’t know how everyone is feeling about coming back, but I know definitely I’m going come back because I want to play for Coach Saban again and I want to come back and defend whatever we win here this year. I think next year our tight end room will definitely be better even though we’re still really good this year.”
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