Alabama Football: Restoring Order

Fans across the nation, particularly those of opposing SEC schools, relish a down year for Alabama football. Of course, a “down year” for the Tide would be cause for celebration at any other school.

Alabama finished 13-2 last season, winning the SEC West and the SEC Championship game in dominating fashion. It then suffocated Cincinnati to win the Cotton Bowl Classic CFP semifinal game before finally running out of steam, woefully short handed, in a rematch against conference foe Georgia in the national championship game.

Alabama football fans know this list of accomplishments does not tell the entire story of the 2021 season. The team failed for a majority of the season to play up to the program’s sky-scraping standards, and oftentimes did not even look like a Nick Saban coached Alabama football team. Poor pass protection, an inability to run the ball, and preventable mishaps on defense and special teams allowed several inferior teams to hang around with the Tide.

Alabama took losses to national champion Georgia and another solid team in Texas A&M. It struggled at home with Arkansas, a top-15 caliber opponent. It escaped the Iron Bowl in four overtimes. Even though records tend to go out the window in the Iron Bowl, and bizarre occurrences always happen in Jordan-Hare Stadium, several aspects of Alabama’s performance that night were inexcusable. The Crimson Tide allowed another rival, the Tennessee Volunteers, to keep their game in Bryant-Denny close until the final stanza. Even average opponents like Florida and LSU took the Tide to the wire, with LSU being another home game.

Alabama Football: Righting the wrongs

This offseason Alabama lost a few key pieces but retained a lot of production, experience, and leadership. It also added several impact transfers and another historic recruiting haul. Perhaps most importantly, Coach Nick Saban lopped some dead weight off the roster. Even a couple negative attitudes can be infectious and damage a team’s psyche and culture. Coach Saban believes he has gotten rid of these factions.

Going forward, the roster has the talent and leadership to rank among Saban’s best teams at Alabama. The disappointment of last season’s failure has festered all offseason. This team will need no other external motivation.

I’m expecting Alabama football to get its groove back in 2022. Not every game will be easy. Keep in mind, even the 2020 team was pushed to its limit in the SEC title game. But I expect this year’s group to be a lot better at putting teams away. The 2021 team had too many glaring weaknesses that opponents could capitalize on, and it lacked both leadership and experience. It also lacked the necessary depth to withstand critical injuries. These factors contributed to the Tide not being able to pull away from inferior opponents. The result was several narrow victories and two regrettable losses.

The 2022 Alabama football team will have no such excuses. It returns two of the best players in the country and has continuity amongst its coordinators. The defense finally features talent and depth similar to vintage Nick Saban teams.

The Crimson Tide should go beyond winning games this year. It should get back to asserting its dominance and being a team that its opponents fear.