This is an opinion column.
It’s weekly mailbag time and this one hits hard after Alabama’s disturbing 28-7 loss to Georgia in the SEC championship.
The Tide is lucky to be in the playoffs, and fans are wondering what happened to the Alabama team that took down Vanderbilt and Georgia during the regular season. Why is Alabama regressing late in the season again with coach Kalen DeBoer? What happened to the “Bama standard?” And, most importantly, where is Jalen Hurts when you need him?
Bravely, we wade into dark waters …
Mike in Wetumpka writes …
At 10-3, the Tide does not deserve to be “in the hunt” this year as they failed miserably to assert themselves as one of the 12 best teams in college football!
This season is the second-consecutive season we have seen this program regress considerably at the end. I don’t think it is reasonable and rational to deny a pattern is developing with this program. I am confident, based on recent performances, that the first-round debacle and failure will prove to be yet another sub-par effort and another embarrassing display for we Bama fans to endure.
I agree with coach Kalen DeBoer when he states, “It’s going to be a physical game and hard fought.” Therein, I think, lies the Tide’s major obstacles and road blocks — insufficient motivation, preparation, enthusiasm and desire!
Skydog in Goodyear, Ariz., writes …
So help me with this: I wrote to you before the SEC championship and discussed how Kalen DeBoer might need to switch quarterbacks if Ty Simpson wasn’t good. He wasn’t. Nick Saban did it twice with Jalen Hurts, and we won both games. Any idea why DeBoer didn’t at least try?
Bart Man writes …
That game was probably the worst I’ve ever seen performed by an Alabama football team.
I had to have a couple of stiff drinks this Saturday to numb the pain of what I had just watched. What has happened to Alabama football since Saban retired? I’ve been a life-long Bama fan and remember the bad years we went through after the Bear retired, and now it seems we are heading down that same path of bad years of just so-so teams until they hire the right coach.
I’ll admit we have been spoiled with the success with Saban and I find myself comparing the team to Saban teams but something is different this time. It seems the players don’t have the self respect or motivation to play their best football each game the Bama way. The new coaches don’t know what the Bama way of football is and their coaching styles conflict with the Bama way it appears, so the whole team does not think or play to the Bama standard.
The sad truth is that I don’t think I even watched more than a few games this year all the way through to the end. Some games I didn’t even watch after the first quarter. This is sad for me and I think it’s also sad for many other fans. The Bama games have lost the entertainment factor and are downright boring and predictable to watch. The blunt truth or impression I’m having is that Bama football is crashing and burning. And if the people in position to make changes don’t wake up and make some changes, then it’s going to be a long and difficult road for Bama fans and the University.
Tom in Asheville, N.C., writes …
The 2025 football season is nearly over and by Bama standards, this was a disappointing year. Could you and your fellow sportswriters please put together a postmortem on why things went wrong (we saw all too clearly what went wrong!), and how, going forward, Coach DeBoer and his staff can fix it?
If we make the CFP, it will be based on accomplishments of a team that hasn’t been seen on the field since October and a residual reputation from the recent past. Maybe these pains were inevitable, given transfer losses and injuries, but the success of other, non-traditional programs, suggests a course correction is needed.
ANSWER: I think what you’re saying is that Alabama needs to be more like Texas Tech and Indiana.
I might be kidding, but like everyone else I’m still having a tough time coming to grips with college football’s new reality. Texas Tech went out and reportedly spent around $28 million on its roster for the 2025 season. The Red Raiders gambled big on football and it’s paying off. They just won their first outright Big 12 championship and are headed to the Orange Bowl for the first time in program history.
Indiana, meanwhile, has one of the largest alumni bases in the country, but that’s not the only reason the Hoosiers are suddenly raising enormous amounts of cash for football. It all started with the hiring of new IU president Pam Whitten, who had previously worked at Georgia and Kennesaw State. Whitten understood the importance of spending money on athletics, but IU football didn’t take off until last season when billionaire alum Mark Cuban started cutting NIL checks.
Is it simply a matter of Alabama spending more on football players, or is it something else?
The offensive production in the SEC championship game was worrisome, but I’m willing to give Alabama a break based on not having several key players on the field. Running back Jam Miller was injured and so was star tight end Josh Cuevas.
Without those options, Alabama’s offense could never find its rhythm against Georgia. Miller led Alabama in rushing attempts (16) in the early season victory against Georgia, and also had three receptions out of the backfield. Cuevas had been a major piece of the offense in the second half of the season.
In the past, Alabama coach Nick Saban had the depth to overcome key injuries late in the season. For DeBoer, it’s not so simple. Alabama rushed for minus-three yards against Georgia and Simpson looked outclassed on key plays. It’s fair to blame the coaches for not developing other players, but Jalen Hurts isn’t walking through that door.
(And if he does, then it might be to support Oklahoma. Eek!)
Should Alabama bench quarterback Ty Simpson before the playoff? I’ve heard and read that suggested, but the answer is no.
We were watching the sidelines in the second half of the SEC championship game to see if Alabama backup quarterback Austin Mack might start warming up, but he never got the call. Maybe Mack could have given Alabama a chance to mount a comeback, but that’s a huge ask on such a big stage.
Remember, Hurts had years and years of big-game experience when he replaced injured quarterback Tua Tagovailoa in the 2018 SEC championship game.
These days, does any team in college football have two quarterbacks like Hurts and Tagovailoa?
It’s not just the quarterback position, though.
Alabama needs Miller and Cuevas back for the first-round game against Oklahoma on Dec.19, and it also might help if receiver Ryan Williams were a little more involved, too.
Williams is the biggest mystery of all when it comes to the idea of playing consistently well (the so-called Alabama standard). Would Williams have developed a little better under the guidance of Saban rather than DeBoer? It’s worth considering.
Williams was a Saban recruit, but Alabama’s offense gets more out of receivers Isaiah Horton (Miami transfer, 2025), Germie Bernard (Washington transfer, 2024) and, lately, even freshman Lotzier Brooks.
Williams seems to be a microcosm of a bigger problem. The troubling trend of Alabama regressing in 2024 and in 2025 can’t be ignored. Last season, quarterback Jalen Milroe was awful by the end. This season, players like Williams and Simpson are struggling to finish the job.
A simple request with two weeks until kickoff: Can Alabama please find a quarterback who can beat Oklahoma? I really want to go to Los Angeles for the Rose Bowl.
The Sooners are 5-1 against Alabama since the turn of the century. That one victory was the 2018 Orange Bowl. Go back and look at the offensive box score from that game.
Alabama had Tua and Jalen at quarterback.
At running back, the Tide had Josh Jacobs, Damien Harris and Najee Harris.
At tight end: Irv Smith, Jr.
In the receiver room, Alabama featured DeVonta Smith, Jerry Jeudy, Jaylen Waddle and Henry Ruggs III.
How much would those players cost in 2025? Probably somewhere in the ballpark of $20 million.
The oil money is going to stay in Texas and Oklahoma, but maybe Alabama’s West Coast brain trust can start giving tech billionaires honorary degrees.
MAILBAG SOUND OFF
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