Derrick Henry knows a thing or two about what it takes to win at Alabama. The 2015 Heisman Trophy winner was the focal point of the Crimson Tide's National Championship run that season, capping his brilliant junior season by leading Alabama over Clemson to capture the fourth national title of the Nick Saban era.
While some former players have been overly critical of the Kalen DeBoer era in Tuscaloosa, don't count Henry in that camp. Speaking on CBS Radio during Super Bowl week, Henry gave a much more layered and understanding take on the first two years of the DeBoer era, noting how difficult the transition from Saban to DeBoer was.
"You going to have growing pains. You know, Coach Saban had his growing pains. Coach DeBoer will have his," Henry said.
Derrick Henry knows what it's going to take for Alabama to be Alabama again
While Henry understands the growing pains, he also knows what it is going to take to restore Alabama football to its rightful place atop the college football mountaintop. Fortunately, it's something that DeBoer and GM Courtney Morgan have shown they understand.
"At some point, you got to address it and just make it happen. If you care about it, if it means something to you -- not just the money, the market stuff and all that. I mean, that’s a given. It’s already in college football. But as far as you as a man and your integrity, what are you willing to do to get that program to where it once was?
“And I know kids, if you don’t play, you can go to another program. But when we were there, we were working, and we wanted to build our own legacy. We heard about the ones that came before us. But what’re you going to do with your time there? And I feel like the only way we going to get back is if you lock into that and go do that. And I feel like they will."
DeBoer and Morgan's top priority in the last two offseasons has been roster retention. Alabama is still looking to grow its roster organically. High school recruiting remains the No. 1 priority, and they'll plug gaps through the Transfer Portal.
The biggest reason for optimism about what DeBoer is building in Tuscaloosa has been how well he and Morgan have done at maintaining their own recruits. Only one player from the Crimson Tide's highly-regarded 2025 recruiting class transferred this offseason.
Indiana won this year's National Championship with a collection of transfers, but Ohio State won it the year before with the same roster-building strategy.
Program continuity - and guys who want to play for Alabama because it's Alabama and not for the check - will be the key to restoring the Crimson Tide to the top of college football.