Alabama Football Has a Chip on Its Shoulder, And That Might Make the Crimson Tide Dangerous Enough to Win It All

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There is something different about this Alabama football team.

Maybe it is because they are young. Maybe it is because there are new faces all over the field. Maybe it is because, for once, Alabama is not entering the season as the overwhelming favorite everyone is circling on the schedule.

Whatever it is, I like it.

Actually, I love it.

Because this Alabama team may not have the same kind of national hype we became accustomed to during the Nick Saban era, but I think that could end up being one of the best things that happens to them.

They do not have a giant target on their back. They have a chip on their shoulder. And those are two very different things.

For years, Alabama entered almost every season with the expectation of winning a national championship. Anything less was considered disappointing. Every opponent played Alabama like it was their Super Bowl. Every Saturday, the Crimson Tide got everyone’s best shot.

That comes with being the standard.

But this season feels different.

There are questions.

There are doubters.

There are people outside Tuscaloosa wondering whether Alabama is still Alabama. There are people questioning the roster, questioning the youth, questioning whether Kalen DeBoer can get this program back to the top, and questioning whether a team with so many new pieces can realistically make a championship run.

Good. Let them question it. Because I think this Alabama team is dangerous. And I think they are dangerous because they have something to prove.

That matters in college football.

Talent will always matter. Coaching will always matter. Quarterback play will always matter. Recruiting, depth, health, execution, all of it matters.

But so does mentality. And there is something incredibly powerful about a talented football team that feels overlooked.

Alabama is still loaded with talent. That has not changed.

This is not some rebuilding program trying to scrape together enough pieces to be competitive. This is Alabama. The roster is still full of blue-chip players. There are former five-stars and four-stars everywhere. There are players who could have gone just about anywhere in the country but chose to wear crimson.

The difference is that many of them are now stepping into bigger roles. And yes, that brings uncertainty.

But it also brings hunger.

Young players are hungry. Players who have waited behind veterans are hungry. Transfers looking for a fresh opportunity are hungry. Guys who have heard all offseason that Alabama is not what it used to be are hungry. And hungry teams scare me a lot more than comfortable ones.

That is what makes this season so exciting. There is a freshness around this team.

Keelon Russell is a perfect example.

He is young. He is inexperienced at the college level. He is going to make mistakes because every young quarterback does.

But the talent is undeniable. The confidence is undeniable. And perhaps most importantly, the coaching staff believes in him.

Ryan Grubb has talked about Russell’s command of the offense, his ability to make adjustments and his composure in pressure situations. Those are not small things for a young quarterback.

Quarterback is one of the hardest positions in sports. Playing quarterback at Alabama comes with even more pressure.

But Russell does not seem scared of it. He seems to embrace it.

That excites me.

And I think the rest of this team is going to feed off that confidence.

Alabama does not need Russell to be Bryce Young in Week 1. They do not need him to be Tua Tagovailoa. They do not need him to be Jalen Hurts. They need him to be Keelon Russell.

Let the kid grow. Let him make plays. Let him lean on the talent around him. And let him develop throughout the season. Because if Russell becomes the quarterback many of us believe he can become, Alabama’s ceiling changes dramatically.

Then there is the rest of the offense.

Alabama has athletes. They have speed. They have guys who can make plays in space. They have weapons capable of turning a routine completion into a touchdown. And if the offensive line can give Russell time and create consistency in the running game, this offense has the potential to be extremely difficult to defend.

That is another reason I am optimistic.

Football games are still won up front. We can talk about quarterbacks, receivers and flashy plays all day long, but championship teams control the line of scrimmage. If Alabama’s offensive line can become a strength, it will take pressure off Russell, open up the playbook for Grubb and allow this offense to become balanced.

And a balanced Ryan Grubb offense with Alabama talent?

That sounds pretty dangerous to me.

The defense is another area where youth could actually become an advantage.

Young defenders play fast. Sometimes they make mistakes because of that speed, but they also bring energy. They fly around. They hit. They compete. And they are desperate to earn playing time.

Alabama has a mixture of young talent and experienced additions who should give the defense options at multiple positions.

That competition matters. Nobody should feel comfortable. Nobody should feel like a starting job belongs to them simply because they have been around.

You earn it.

That is the culture I want to see at Alabama. And that is something I believe DeBoer is continuing to establish.

We saw it with the quarterback decision.

Austin Mack had history with DeBoer. He knew the system. He followed DeBoer from Washington. It would have been easy for people to assume that relationship would give Mack the advantage.

But Russell won the job. That tells me something.

It tells me DeBoer is willing to play the guy he believes gives Alabama the best chance to win.

Relationships matter, but winning matters more. That is exactly how it should be.

And that mentality can spread throughout a roster. If players know jobs are earned, practices become more competitive. If practices become more competitive, the team gets better. If the team gets better, suddenly that “young Alabama team” everyone keeps talking about starts looking a whole lot more dangerous by November.

That is the key.

Alabama does not have to be perfect in August. They do not have to be a finished product in September. They need to grow.

The expanded College Football Playoff has changed the way we look at seasons.

One early loss does not necessarily destroy your championship hopes anymore.

What matters is improving. What matters is surviving. What matters is becoming the best version of your team when the biggest games arrive. And I think this Alabama team has room to grow in a way that should excite fans.

Ceiling matters. This team has a high ceiling. Really high.

There are going to be frustrating moments. Let me go ahead and say that now.

Young teams make young-team mistakes. There may be turnovers. There may be missed assignments. There may be drives where the offense looks unstoppable followed by a drive where everyone wonders what just happened. There may be defensive breakdowns. There may be moments where we have to remind ourselves that some of these guys are still learning.

That does not mean Alabama cannot win a championship.

Championship teams are rarely perfect. They are resilient. They respond. They learn. They adjust. And they keep getting better.

That is what I will be watching for.

How does Alabama respond after adversity? How does Russell respond after an interception? How does the defense respond after giving up a big play? How does the team respond if they fall behind on the road? Those moments tell you more about a football team than winning by 40 when everything is going right.

And this group has heard enough criticism that I do not think adversity is going to scare them.

They have already been doubted. They have already heard that Georgia is better. They have already heard that other SEC teams have passed Alabama. They have already heard that the dynasty is over and that the standard disappeared the moment Saban retired. They have heard it all.

Now they get to answer. Not on social media. Not at press conferences. On the field.

That is why I love the position Alabama is in.

For once, Alabama gets to hunt. That is a very different feeling.

When you are the team everyone expects to win, the pressure is suffocating.

You are defending something every single Saturday.

But when people start counting you out? Now you are chasing. Now you have something to prove. Now every win becomes another reminder that maybe everyone was a little too quick to bury Alabama.

I want this team to embrace that.

Do not run from the youth. Own it.

Do not run from the inexperience. Grow through it.

Do not worry about preseason rankings or national media predictions. Use them.

Put every quote on the wall. Remember every person who said Alabama was finished. Then go play football.

Because Alabama does not need everyone to believe in them in August. They need to believe in themselves. And I believe they do.

I am not saying this team is guaranteed to win the national championship. There are too many good teams in college football to guarantee anything.

The SEC is brutal. Georgia will be good. Texas will be good. There are teams around the country capable of winning it all.

Alabama will have to earn every bit of success it gets.

But can this Alabama team win a national championship? Absolutely.

I believe that. The talent is there. The coaching is there. The quarterback has a chance to be special. The roster has young players ready to become stars. And perhaps most importantly, this team has something that cannot be measured on a recruiting ranking.

They are hungry. They have been doubted. They have been questioned. They have been told that Alabama is no longer the standard. That creates a chip. And a talented Alabama football team with a chip on its shoulder is something college football should probably be very careful with.

Because Alabama has spent most of the last two decades walking into seasons with a target on its back. This year feels different. This year Alabama gets to be the hunter. And I have a feeling this team is going to enjoy the chase.

They may be young. They may be new. They may still have a lot to prove. But do not mistake youth for weakness. Do not mistake new faces for a lack of talent. And definitely do not mistake the absence of overwhelming preseason hype for the absence of championship potential.

This Alabama team is dangerous. Maybe more dangerous than people realize.

And by the time the rest of college football figures that out, it might already be too late.

Roll Tide. 

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