Why Alabama’s Scowl Won’t Fade, Even in the Rose Bowl

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In the spirit of the holiday season, my duty as a writer is to bring you a happy go-lucky story for Christmas Day.

However, the problem is, there is a never-ending scowl on the faces of the Alabama Crimson Tide players as they prepare for the Rose Bowl on New Years Day.

Nope, there won’t be gifts exchanged. No caroling around campus.

The only gifts they intend to dish out involves the force of 250-pound men running into their opponents at 20 miles per hour.

In a time where most show their joy to the world, the Crimson Tide plan to roll out “joyless murderball” in Pasadena at the Rose Bowl against Indiana.

It was a term that was coined by Louisville radio host Mark Ennis back in 2018 to then-coach Nick Saban’s propensity for aiming to virtually destroy every opponent in his team’s way.

The physical act of football is half the battle. It’s a physical game by nature, but the effort is what wins them.

Lately, you may have seen head coach Kalen DeBoer’s name get thrown around a lot in the media, on the internet, you name it.

Criticism of DeBoer has been relentless, as has the speculation on his future. But Alabama players are fed up, and are tired of hearing their coach’s name get thrown around so freely.

Quarterback Ty Simpson went on a podcast “Closed on Sundays,” hosted by Alabama alums Terrion Arnold and Pat Surtain, and the message was loud and clear.

Alabama is not happy.

"Bro, honestly, the thing that pisses us off the most as a team is one, when they come after Coach DeBoer … Two, when they talk about Kalen DeBoer's team and the 2025 Alabama team isn't tough. 

That really gets under our skin because one, playing in the SEC is tough anyway. Not only that, but playing at Alabama is tough. The stuff we have to go through on a daily basis but fourth quarter, in the summer workouts, running stadium and stuff people don't do – that really frustrates us.”

It wasn’t just that either. This appearance at the Rose Bowl gives him an opportunity to right the wrongs of the 2023 team, that fell just short to Michigan by the score of 27-20 in overtime, who then went on to win the National Championship against a DeBoer-led Washington.

"I remember being in that locker room, seeing you [Arnold] being emotional, J-Mil [Jalen Milroe]. Everybody was emotional, bro. Everybody knew we should have won. We had a really good team.

I remember sitting that locker room … just knowing when it's my turn, man, I'm just going to make sure that I'm doing everything I can to help us win. This game, I just got to do my job. That's what Saban preaches and DeBoer preaches all the time. Just do your job and let God deal with the rest."

Simpson is a man of his word. After the Florida State loss, he made it a point to let everyone know that the Tide were going to right this ship.

They then went on to win their next eight games, including consecutive wins against four ranked programs.

Later, they got smoked by Georgia in the SEC Championship game, and everyone wrote them off as a team that didn’t deserve to be in the College Football Playoffs.

When they got in, they made sure to make their presence known. By beating Oklahoma, a team that has had their number for the past two meetups, on the road.

For Alabama, this isn’t just a means to advance in the Playoffs. 

It’s a way to show the world that the Crimson Tide aren’t to be written off.

Either way, they won’t write back.

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