There's no doubt that there is extra motivation for Alabama football players this year, a fact that the coaching staff will undoubtedly take advantage of during summer workouts and into fall camp.
The 2024 Crimson Tide season fell well short of expectations. Alabama missed the College Football Playoff and failed to win 10 games in a season for the first time since 2007. It lost to three teams that finished the season with at least five losses.
Under Nick Saban, Alabama had been impervious to major upsets. The loss in early October to Vanderbilt showed that was no longer the case. A renewed focus was expected following the loss to the Commodores, but the Tide slipped up two more times on the road in the regular season to Tennessee and Oklahoma, the latter of which directly resulted in Alabama missing the playoff.
No returning player on the 2025 roster took last season harsher than star wide receiver Ryan Williams. A lifelong Tide fan, Williams lamented on his team's inability to keep the streak of winning 10+ games alive.
Now, Williams has given fans an indication on the team's mentality heading into the 2025 season.
Alabama WR Ryan Williams on facing Vanderbilt in rematch:
— On3 (@On3sports) June 3, 2025
“We’re going to kill an ant with a sledgehammer.”
(via @BarstoolGruden)https://t.co/IBoFYJzMz4 pic.twitter.com/O1H6t9AMCq
In speaking with Jon Gruden, Williams talked about last season's loss to Vanderbilt and the motivation Alabama has for next season. "Killing an ant with a sledgehammer" isn't necessarily calling the Commodores an "ant." It's speaking to the point of not taking anything for granted this season by making sure the job is done.
Part of the problem last season was not preparing for each opponent the same way. The team we saw beat Georgia in September was not the same team a week later in Nashville. The team we saw dominate LSU in Baton Rouge was not the same team that got embarrassed in Norman.
Ryan Williams has an old school mentality
Beyond the bright smile and TikTok dances, the rising sophomore receiver has that killer instinct that you look for in the all-time greats. He's not on the football field to make friends. He wants to punish the opposition.
Williams made waves last season with his controversial "Kill Everyone" eye black during the Georgia game. It was the first peak into his psyche on the football field. You'd never know it in interviews and how he conducts himself off the field, but Williams is a psychopath on the gridiron.
That mentality will serve him well. It will also serve Kalen DeBoer and the rest of Alabama well as he steps into more of a leadership role on this team.