Fifteen years of unparalleled dominance gone and erased – poof! – in the span of a season and one game.
Nick Saban isn’t walking through that door. Heck, AJ McCarron isn’t, either. There is no rationale reason for optimism.
After losing to Vanderbilt and Oklahoma in coach Kalen DeBoer’s debut, the No. 8 Crimson Tide opened 2025 with an embarrassing 31-17 loss at unranked Florida State, which ended last season at or near the very bottom of the Power Four. The loss was Alabama’s first in a season opener since 2001.
There is nothing Alabama does particularly well and some obvious flaws, including the play of an offense that averaged just 4.6 yards per play. From drops to missed blocks to missed assignments, Alabama’s offense managed to combine poor preparation with poor execution. Defensively, the Tide allowed 6.1 yards per play and 10.9 yards per pass attempt.
This is what Alabama resembles a game into DeBoer’s second year: an average program farther away from the national championship than at any single point during the Saban era.
