In any other year over the past two decades, Alabama returning one of the best rosters in college football would almost automatically place the Crimson Tide as the preseason No. 1 team in the country.
However, that level of assuredness of what was in Tuscaloosa, that level of faith in the program, isn’t quite what it once was. Not with Nick Saban off on his budding television career and certainly not given the ups and downs that last year’s group went through, going from one of the top-ranked teams in the polls at one point to all the way out of the College Football Playoff picture in the end.
Though the Tide fans may whine about getting excluded by the selection committee last December, the simple fact of the matter is that the lows Alabama experienced in 2024—namely losing to Vanderbilt, Tennessee (again) and Oklahoma on the road—show that no matter what the group is capable of against fellow elite teams, this is now much more of a mortal program every Saturday than it once was with the greatest head coach in the sport’s history.
While that aspect opens the door to more doubt than we’re used to about Alabama going into fall camp, there’s still enough similarities to years past where you wonder if maybe last season will look more like a blip on the radar and the byproduct of growing pains from a coaching transition few expected. After all, the roster in Tuscaloosa is once again loaded with future NFL talent all over the field, there’s one of the bright young stars in all of college football still making plays in wideout Ryan Williams and both the offensive and defensive lines have a chance to become their usual mauling self.
So would it really be all that surprising to see Alabama make it all the way to Miami this year for the national championship game? Well no, not really. The program may be quite different from the one we’re used to, but the ceiling is still high enough to raise a banner come January.
“We’ve got to be better in the big moments. We lost some close games last year. We had chances maybe not even in the fourth quarter, but early in the game to separate ourselves or make a play here or there,” said head coach Kalen DeBoer. “We really had a great off-season understanding where we fell short, why we fell short. Not just the what and the how but the why. I’m excited about our guys taking those next steps, understanding when we get in those moments this year, those critical times, how to come through and make the play that's necessary to go win football games.”
The Tide still have plenty of great players. The coaching staff, particularly DeBoer, knows what it’s like to build up a program and then take it to the CFP. The expectations are for that marriage of talent and coaching to be realized on the field at some point and, if they can sort out a new starting quarterback, then the Tide don’t have a whole lot of holes to poke through in 2025.
While you can’t quite count on Bama being the colossus it once was, it appears to be far closer to the type of team we’re used to seeing.
Fast Facts
2024 record: 9–4, 5–3 SEC
Offense: 33.8 ppg (22nd in FBS), 6.33 yards per play (22nd)
Defense: 17.4 ppg (10th in FBS), 4.72 yards per play (ninth)
On the Headset
Kalen DeBoer, entering Year 2 in Tuscaloosa, 113–16 overall record, 9–4 with the Tide.
You never want to be the guy after the guy. DeBoer knows a little bit more about that increased level of pressure now even though he willingly ran toward the Alabama job and all that entailed replacing Saban two years ago.
In a vacuum, he did a solid job last season as a fish out of water in the Deep South and especially when factoring in player movement that happens after a coach retires (just ask Ohio State, which snagged ex-Bama players like Caleb Downs and Julian Sayin). The Tide went undefeated at Bryant-Denny and beat SEC rivals like Georgia and LSU. They took care of things in the nonconference in impressive fashion after struggling in that area the year before too.
Yet, as players around the football facility would be loath to remind you, the standard at Alabama is the standard. That’s rings—and nothing else.
In that area, DeBoer fell markedly short of what was expected and especially so in light of how well he pushed all the right buttons during his time at Washington. In 2024, it seemed like he kept pushing the wrong ones just when you would think Bama would be able to dig itself out of self-inflicted holes.
The Tide lost to Vanderbilt for goodness sake, which isn’t the cardinal sin it once was given how well the Commodores played last season, but that’s still an all-timer of a loss that almost counts double against DeBoer as an SEC newbie. Losing on the Third Saturday in October, dropping the ball against a woeful Oklahoma team to cough up a CFP bid and looking like a team playing with one arm behind its back in the bowl game all helped contribute to a less than glowing debut campaign as well.
“I think there’s a lot of things that I’m super proud of that have happened within the program that are part of the progression,” said DeBoer. “We fell short [of the CFP]. Our guys, I’m proud of them and the way they’ve responded to us not realizing the goals that we set out to have, getting back to work, focusing on the main thing. I feel that’s always been the case. Sometimes there’s ups and downs that you have to go through unfortunately that we had to experience. But in the end, we’re going to take advantage of the failures we’ve had and be better because of it.”
Nobody needs that to be the case more than DeBoer and the administration above him. While all the hot seat chatter that popped up on radio and TV programs across the South was truthfully a bit premature in Year 1, it also speaks to the level of scrutiny that Alabama’s head coach is under on a daily basis.
Saban was able to tame such a beast as best as he could by winning at a historic clip. For DeBoer, that outside noise won’t die down one iota if he doesn’t start meeting his predecessor's exacting standards.
Key Returning Starter
LB Deontae Lawson, Rs. Sr.
Lawson is the heart and soul of the Tide defense, which has a chance to be one of the best in the country once again given the amount of talent on hand at all three levels. If they’re to reach the kind of heights they’re capable of however, they need Lawson to be on the field and healthy all season long. He’s working his way back from an ACL injury he suffered late last year and has been progressing slowly in his return to practice. He’s seen a ton of football during his time in Tuscaloosa and the team really needs him to be his usual dynamic self, making plays by the start of SEC play at a minimum.
Key Transfer
WR Isaiah Horton, from Miami
There are no questions about whether the Tide have a No. 1 wide receiver given that youthful sophomore Ryan Williams is one of the only players with a chance of stopping Jeremiah Smith from winning the Biletnikoff Award this year. The team even has a dependable No. 2 in Germie Bernard who is capable of moving the sticks with consistency. But for the Alabama offense to truly become unlocked with an inexperienced young quarterback under center, it would help tremendously if the 6' 4" Horton can become a factor in the passing game between his length and speed. That can help free up Williams so he’s not constantly double-teamed and help spread receptions around more as the team likely won’t feature as many multiple tight end sets as they did a year ago.
Key Departure
OG Tyler Booker, first-round NFL draft pick by the Dallas Cowboys
Alabama had its best defensive player go in the first round and lost a quarterback to the draft but the toughest blow to the team might have been the loss of Booker both on and off the field. Between the lines he was a road grader who was able to constantly get push against SEC defensive fronts but he might be missed more for the leadership and accountability that he instilled in the team amid the transition from Saban to DeBoer.
Circle the Dates
- Sept. 27, at Georgia
- Oct. 18, vs. Tennessee
- Nov. 8, vs. LSU
- Nov. 29, at Auburn
Bottom Line
Things may have a different look to them in Tuscaloosa but the Tide still have one of the rosters that pretty much every coach in the country would trade for. There will be plenty of pressure on new QB Ty Simpson to make it all work more consistently on offense than Jalen Milroe ever did, but if the team can cut down on the mistakes that seemed to snowball last season into terrible losses, this is a group capable of making it to Miami.
More College Football on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Sports Illustrated’s College Football Preseason Top 25: No. 7 Alabama.
