Following a 9-4 record in the first year under Kalen DeBoer, Alabama’s future, for the first time since Nick Saban got things rolling in 2008, is a bit uncertain. So, with the start of the 2025 season just under 100 days away, the NFF College Football Hall of Fame provided an opportunity to look back on the Crimson Tide’s illustrious past.
On Monday, the College Football Hall of Fame released the ballot for the 2026 class and included two Crimson Tide legends: DeMeco Ryans and Mark Ingram.
Ryans was a unanimous First-Team All-American in 2005, his final season in Tuscaloosa, and was named the 2005 NFF National Scholar-Athlete. He is one of eight former National Scholar-Athletes on the 2026 ballot.
In that dominant 2005 season, Ryans was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Year before going on to be a second-round pick of the Houston Texans, and he still holds the program record for single-game tackles with 25 against Arkansas in 2003.
Ingram’s case for the Hall of Fame is even more obvious than Ryans’, as the 2009 Heisman Trophy winner. In his stellar sophomore season, Ingram ran for 1,658 yards and 17 touchdowns as he beat out Stanford’s Toby Gerhart and Texas’s Colt McCoy for the Award. Ingram helped to catalyse Saban’s turnaround of the Crimson Tide, leading the way to the 2008 undefeated season and BCS National Championship.
Former Alabama head coach Dennis Franchione, who led the Crimson Tide for two seasons in 2001 and 2002, is also on the ballot, but he is more recognized for his success at the NAIA ranks and a Cotton Bowl berth with Texas A&M.
Which former Alabama player has the better chance at the 2026 Hall of Fame?
If Alabama could only send one player to the 2026 Hall of Fame class, the choice wouldn’t be completely cut and dry. It’s easy to lean toward Ingram with his Heisman Trophy and national title, but 2009 was the only 1,000-yard season of his career, and that season had a historically underwhelming crop of Heisman contenders.
Ingram did not even earn All-American honors in 2010 as he was hobbled by injuries, and Trent Richardson and Eddie Lacy began to cut into his share of carries. Ryans, on the other hand, had his most dominant season in his final year on campus in 2005, but the current head coach of the Houston Texans had been a bona fide star dating back to his 25-tackle performance in 2003.
If you forced me to pick, I’d go with Ingram, but it’s still closer than you’d expect. Both certainly have a chance to work their way into the 2026 class, but it’s far from a guarantee.