Texas, others make NIL sailing rough for Alabama football | Goodbread
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Oil money spends.
It’s not as though the Texas Longhorns haven’t already demonstrated that to Alabama football in past transfer seasons, but it’s a reality that’s revealed itself once again early in 2026. In the span of a few days, Texas plucked prized running back Hollywood Smothers from the list of transfers who had announced a commitment to Alabama, and beat out the Crimson Tide for transfer receiver Cam Coleman, previously of Auburn.
One can accurately say the two gridiron assets were never Alabama’s to lose in the first place, but that doesn’t address the optics of it, nor what it might foretell long-term. The optics aren’t to be underestimated. Transfer recruiting is the ultimate fix for the traditional recruiting news enthusiasts, who drive a well-platformed industry and tend to be an intensely supportive segment of any fan base. It’s one group of fans no athletic director wants to be disgruntled.
As for what it means for Kalen DeBoer’s program, it doesn’t bode well. But it doesn’t spell disaster, either.
Alabama’s NIL coffers are deep, but not the deepest. The deepest will command the top of the market. And the apparent deepest in 2024, Ohio State’s pre-House-settlement $20 million roster, was mostly dominant in the CFP on the way to a national title. Crimson Tide fans will recall that a chunk of that $20 million netted the Buckeyes Caleb Downs, the former UA safety who could be a top-five NFL draft pick, and quarterback Julian Sayin, once a five-star Alabama signee and now OSU’s Heisman Trophy finalist. More recently, two more Alabama defensive starters transferring out − former high school teammates James Smith and Qua Russaw − are OSU-bound.
Turns out, oil isn’t the only kind of money at the top of the NIL food chain. Nor is Texas the only program that can spend with it.
A great deal of NIL money is spent unwisely, however. A big part of Alabama general manager Courtney Morgan’s job is about value, not volume, both in the transfer market and in assisting with retention decisions. Smart value judgments give any GM like Morgan a competitive edge against reckless NIL spending. And for DeBoer, Morgan doesn’t have a more important role. The edge DeBoer must establish himself is in player development. Alabama can’t afford for that to be a shortcoming. The fact that NIL makes improved players harder or impossible to retain doesn’t render player development less important. To the contrary, it becomes more important.
It all sounds like the how-to book for the least-funded of programs − certainly not well-heeled Alabama − but the same prescription of wise spending and player development applies to college football’s most well-to-do 2% closing the gap on its 1%.
The NIL/transfer portal era is coming up on its fifth birthday, with legendary coach Nick Saban navigating the first three at Alabama, DeBoer the last two. UA wasn’t the biggest NIL spender under Saban either, although his player development program was legendarily elite. DeBoer and Morgan have proven themselves as fine recruiters of high school talent, and for obvious reasons, Alabama’s NIL backing deserves credit right alongside them for that.
Dollars for transfers and retention, however, flow through an economy all their own.
Coleman visited UA over the weekend, and Alabama recently hired his position coach at Auburn, Derrick Nix, to lead the Crimson Tide’s receivers. What influence that was on Coleman is unclear, but what’s crystal clear is that players’ personal relationships with coaches aren’t much of a factor anymore. An extra couple hundred grand, or more, is shiny bait for transfers to roll with a new position coach who seems nice.
For that, who among us wouldn’t give change a chance?
Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread is also the weekly co-host of Crimson Cover TV on WVUA-23. Reach him at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on X.com @chasegoodbread.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Texas, big spenders make NIL-portal sailing rough for Alabama football
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