Alabama Football’s annual A-Day game is several weeks away. Spring practice for the Alabama Crimson Tide begins on Mar. 20. The annual intrasquad game will be on Apr. 22 at 2:00 PM CST.
Some Alabama football fans who have never been to an A-Day game and have not attended one in recent years might want to change that pattern this April. Alabama needs a big crowd this spring. Maybe even more important is Nick Saban wants a big crowd at Bryant-Denny.
Admittedly, an A-Day is far from being as exciting as a regular game. And the lack of sizzle is not just because the Crimson Tide is playing the Crimson Tide. The sensible style of game, orchestrated by Nick Saban, requires far less than full use of the Crimson Tide’s offensive and defensive playbooks. There is some touch football involved. Kick and punt returns are diluted to the level of being almost pointless.
Nick Saban does not call the penalties, but he does control the clock. By regular-season comparison, A-Day games are abbreviated contests.
In terms of enjoyment of watching Alabama football, the season opener against Middle Tennessee State and the November game against Chattanooga have much more appeal than an A-Day game.
In contrast, there are several important reasons why Alabama football fans should flock to this April’s A-Day game. A big crowd can help invigorate a Crimson Tide program that is coming off back-to-back, two-loss seasons. By Crimson Tide standards those four losses in two years represent major failures. The last time Alabama lost two games in back-to-back seasons was in 2013 and 2014. What followed was three National Championships in six seasons.
The 2023 Alabama Crimson Tide season needs to be a ‘Royal Restoration’ and return to glory.
Other reasons for Alabama Football fans to attend A-Day
- Spring practice will bring a full-on battle for the Crimson Tide’s next starting quarterback. The A-Day game will be the only time, all but a few Alabama fans, get to see Jalen Milroe and Ty Simpson compete before the MTSU game. A strong performance by one of them in the A-Day game might carry over to QB1 early in fall camp.
- With two new Coordinators, Alabama football fans will be looking for any clue as to how both sides of the ball will adapt.
- The Crimson Tide has limited experience in multiple position groups. Alabama fans will be looking for bright spots on the offensive line, in the secondary, and at inside linebacker.
- Most of all, seeing players in person gives added insight not always available when watching at home.
The last two A-Days have had crowds of 47,000 and 31,000. Hopefully the crowd this April will be much larger.