Kalen DeBoer was well aware of what he was getting himself into in 2024 when he chose to inherit arguably the most unforgiving standard in all of college football.
It was built over decades, reinforced by championships, and carried forward on the backs of the players who experienced it firsthand.
Alabama legends Trent Richardson and AJ McCarron were among those players.
Players who both embodied the "Alabama standard" and helped establish what it truly means to play for the Crimson Tide — where simply winning wasn't enough, but the expectation under seven-time national champion-winning head coach Nick Saban.
Now, as DeBoer prepares to walk into a pivotal third season in Tuscaloosa — one that comes after more than 50 new players, several coaching staff changes, and two years of transition — the standard remains unchanged.
If anything, it has become even more pronounced.
Richardson and McCarron made that clear on their latest podcast episode of "The Dynasty," ahead of Saturday's regular-season opener against East Carolina, when the two former stars didn't mince words about what they believe would constitute a successful season for DeBoer and Alabama in 2026.
Trent Richardson and AJ McCarron know the standard never changes at Alabama
“Standard is the standard,” Richardson said. "We win National Championships here. When the standard stops being the standard, that’s when we stop being 'Bama, and we can’t stop that any time soon. We gotta get back to the place where we really believe that we can do this thing. And every game for us should be 1-0, playing it like it’s a National Championship game because at the end of the day, they’re playing a national championship game against you. And we have always been the standard, and it needs to stay like that.”
For Richardson, the message is simple: Alabama cannot allow the expectations that made the program what it is to become diluted.
McCarron echoed that sentiment, speaking from experience after quarterbacking the Tide to three national title appearances. And even after winning two championships, he still admittedly views his senior campaign as a down year because it ended without another ring.
“I mean, I don’t know why we would change our standard in any way,” McCarron said. “You come to Alabama to play for National Championships, to win National Championships, so that’s a successful year. I mean, when we didn’t win my senior year, that was a down year. It felt like the world was coming to an end. Everybody else in this world might change their standard — but I don’t understand why we would change our standard here. I think Coach DeBoer understood that when he took the job being the guy coming right behind Saban, and that’s part of it. I hate it for you. It’s hard shoes to fill and a hard situation to be in, but that’s the standard. It’s something we’ve built, and I don’t think you ever lower the standard or expectations.”
To me, hearing both messages adds even more weight to the growing pile of luggage DeBoer and his staff are carrying into Saturday.
The honeymoon/transition phase is officially over.
DeBoer has had two seasons to establish his culture, reshape the roster, and engrave his own fingerprints onto the program. Year 3 is where that foundation has to start to look like something more.
Richardson and McCarron aren't looking for the Tide to go undefeated and win every game to satisfy the standard. But DeBoer does need his group to take the field each Saturday looking like a team that believes a championship is attainable — one that plays with the urgency, physicality, and meets the expectation that comes with rocking the script A.
Because by now, if Alabama is truly his program, 2026 has to be the season the Crimson Tide stops being defined by the transition it endured and starts being judged by the standard "Title Town" was most associated with.
And with the road back to that status opening in less than 48 hours, it'll be interesting to see if DeBoer can successfully convince this fan base, its former players, its haters, along with the rest of the football world, that Alabama's standard didn't leave with Saban — it simply found someone new to carry it forward.
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