Happy Gump Day, everyone, and what a Gump Day it is with fall camp officially starting. The preseason coaches’ poll was released yesterday, and Alabama is projected to be right on the fringe of the College Football Playoff.
The preseason college football coaches poll is out and expectations haven’t been this low for Alabama in some time.
The Crimson Tide was ranked No. 11 — the program’s lowest since opening the 2008 season outside the top 25. Alabama was No. 8 in last year’s preseason coaches poll and No. 5 in 2024.
Auburn was No. 34 in the also-receiving-votes category. Jacksonville State also received one vote.
Ohio State was the No. 1 team in the first poll followed by Oregon and No. 3 Georgia. This is the first time the Buckeyes have topped the preseason coaches poll since 2015, when they were coming off a national championship.
With so many questions, that’s about as high as one would expect. Alabama also has some watch list representation.
Zabien Brown and Bray Hubbard are part of a group of 68 candidates that make up the Nagurski’s preseason list, an award that recognizes the nation’s top defensive player. Named in honor of college and NFL Hall of Famer Bronko Nagurski, the Trophy has been presented annually since 1993 by the Charlotte Touchdown Club and the FWAA. Finalists for the 2026 Nagurski Trophy will be announced on November 19 before the winner is revealed at the Bronko Nagurski Awards Banquet in Charlotte, N.C., on Dec. 7.
Alabama has produced two winners of the Nagurski, including the Trophy’s only two-time honoree Will Anderson Jr., who received the honor in both 2021 and 2022. He joined Jonathan Allen, the Crimson Tide’s first recipient back in 2016.
Michael Carroll is one of 68 candidates tabbed to the preseason list for the Outland Trophy, named in honor of All-America offensive lineman John Outland of Penn. The award has been presented annually since 1946 by the FWAA to recognize the top interior lineman in college football on offense or defense.
Hubbard and Brown should both be in competition for various hardware this season. Carroll playing like an Outland candidate would be huge for this team. As you well know, the offensive line carries the key to the season.
Does Alabama have a starting offensive line set?
Michael Carroll, Jackson Lloyd and Cal Poly transfer Racin Delgatty seem to have locked down starting spots on Alabama’s offensive line, leaving open positions at left guard and right tackle. But those two positions seem to have answers, at least for now, in William Sanders and Mississippi State transfer Jayvin James. Ideally, Alabama has a set starting five, one it rarely diverts from in 2026. Other options could push for playing time like Texas transfer Nick Brooks. But the picture for a starting offensive line seems to be much clearer than murky.
Four out of the five starters will be new. Jackson Lloyd locked down the left tackle spot almost immediately following the departure of Kadyn Proctor to the NFL draft. Michael Carroll can be slotted into a spot as well, most likely right guard. That leaves three other spots, and Cal Poly transfer Racin Delgatty has been the favorite to start at center, replacing another draft pick in Parker Brailsford.
What about left guard and right tackle, though?
Can someone beat out Mississippi State transfer Jayvin James on the right side? And at left guard, after missing the spring with an injury, will Will Sanders claim the spot?
Players such as Mal Waldrep, Ole Miss transfer Ethan Fields and Texas transfer Nick Brooks are among those fighting for playing time, too.
Matt Zenitz and Chris Hummer cite “sources” telling them that Keelon Russell has a slight edge in the QB race.
This is a tight battle between second-year freshman Keelon Russell and redshirt junior Austin Mack. Sources have shared strong reviews on the talent level of Russell, but redshirt junior Austin Mack, who began his career under Kalen DeBoer and offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb at Washington, has experience with this offensive system dating back to 2023. Mack was a more consistent game manager during the spring, per sources.
One source put it in the 60-40 range that Russell ends up starting the Crimson Tide’s opener against ECU. Another put it at 55-45. Russell is a former No. 2 overall recruit from the 2025 class who Alabama paid handsomely to sign, and then eschewed hitting the transfer portal for a quarterback to replace Ty Simpson in part because that would have scared off Russell, so there’s plenty of logic that suggests the Tide are pulling for him to win the job.
In order to lock that down, though, Russell will have to improve his consistency. Sources have also shared that there’s still an element of unknown in terms of how he’ll look and respond at points when the defense is able to hit him, which hasn’t happened often this offseason.
This runs contrary to some other reports, and underscores just how close it is.
Alabama’s defense is expected to be a strength, but a rebuilt defensive line still has some questions until we see it on the field.
Defensive Line: Can the New-Look Trio Perfectly Mesh?
DL coach Freddie Roach, Alabama’s longest-tenured assistant, who has held his current position in Tuscaloosa since 2020, has some work to do. The Crimson Tide has been on a bit of a downward spike in the sacks-per-game department over the last couple of years, as it was inside the top-4 of the SEC from 2020-23, but it was tied for 14th in 2024 and eighth last season.
Roach will have a fresh start, as all of the starters and most of the reserves from last season are no longer at Alabama. This unit seems to have its starting trio locked in with USC transfer Devan Thompkins at Bandit (defensive end), Oregon transfer Terrance Green at nose tackle and returning sophomore London Simmons at defensive tackle.
Simmons has high expectations this fall after earning All-SEC Freshman honors in 2025 and he’ll need to find a way to mesh well with these two experienced transfers to get Alabama’s defensive line back on track.
It’s been a while since an Alabama freshman was more anticipated than EJ Crowell.
The player who many fans have taken to as the potential savior of the running game, Crowell missed much of spring with an injury. That did nothing to quell the hype surrounding the five-star in-state freshman, who played his high school football at Jackson.
Even while he was on the shelf, Ryan Grubb praised Crowell’s potential, though he threw in compliments for the rest of the running backs as well.
“Sky’s the limit for him,” Grubb said of Crowell. “I mean, I think that’s a really, really competitive room. I look at the guys that have been there, you know, Daniel (Hill) and Kevin (Riley), that have been — just even their preparation and their mindset right now is really different.”
Crowell will have to battle to get on the field early if he’s going to live up to the hype. However, he has the talent to do so, and if he can have a strong camp, he’ll be well on his way to superstardom.
Nick Saban and Gordon Gee wrote a letter to Congress, urging the passage of the Protect College Sports Act.
While noting that no single law solves every problem, the letter notes that this one “creates a better path forward.” It praises the framework the bill would put around transfers, eligibility, rosters and NIL, saying it will help college athletics reach its “full potential.”
It concludes with a nod to President Trump‘s leadership on the issue, likening it to President Roosevelt doing similar for athletics in 1906. Then it hammers home the overarching message.
“Reasonable people can disagree about details, and debate has made this bill stronger,” the letter read. “But there comes a moment when leadership requires moving forward.
“Congress rarely gets to strengthen an institution that has shaped generations of Americans. This is one of those moments. Pass the Protect College Sports Act — not for universities, and not for coaches, but for the young people whose futures college sports will shape.”
Last, we’ve heard this story before but it’s still amusing.
The method was simple: When Saban himself disappeared to play an afternoon round, they’d find out which of the two courses in Tuscaloosa he was playing at and they’d go play the other. Of course, the inevitable eventually happened. Golding, then offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian and several others got some bad intel one spring afternoon and ended up at the same course as their boss.
A few groups behind, they managed to keep a low profile until they reached the par-3 10th hole at Indian Hills, which overlooked the 16th green where Saban was putting. Sarkisian stepped up and quietly tee’d off, and that’s when the unthinkable happened.
“We were deciding should we even hit or not. Sark’s like, ‘Alright, we’ll just be quiet and I’ll hit.’ I think it’s like 145 or whatever and he hits like 8-iron … it hits [gestures a bouncing ball] and it goes in. Hole-in-one.”
Of course, the natural human reaction is to go crazy. Whoopin’, hollerin’, carryin’ on. All that good stuff. But because Saban was just below and they were playing hooky, the group burst into a completely silent celebration of the ill-timed ace.
“It was like you’re watching a movie and you hit mute,” Golding explained. “Nobody wantes to say anything because we can’t let coach know … We beelined straight to the carts, nobody else even hit.”
Pete said “they heard about it” the next day. I can only imagine.
That’s about it for now. Have a great day.
Roll Tide.
