It was a strange scene at SEC Media Days last week in Tampa for Kalen DeBoer and the three Alabama players in attendance. They weren't the stars of the show as Crimson Tide representatives have so often been. Instead, they were more of an afterthought.
That matches how Alabama is viewed as the 2026 college football season quickly approaches. The air of invincibility is gone, and Alabama is viewed as just another good team fighting for scraps at the playoff table and not a real contender for the national championship.
The consensus is that Alabama is on the outside looking in for the College Football Playoff this season. Almost nobody considers the Tide a realistic threat to win it all.
DeBoer said it best in Tampa that Alabama knows it has to "prove it" this year to shut out the noise and the rising doubts.
But there's a quiet confidence around the program that this team has the potential to be a whole lot better than any national expert wants to believe. That was exemplified by junior cornerback Zabien Brown at SEC Media Days last week. The SEC Network's Chris Doering, a former Florida wide receiver, took notice.
Chris Doering believes Kalen DeBoer's 2026 Alabama team might be special
“I was absolutely blown away by the trio of representatives that Coach DeBoer brought to Tampa," Doering said on The Dynasty podcast. "Zabien Brown sat with us on our TV show; the maturity that he had, the quiet confidence that he had about this team and how special they were. I’ve been a part of special teams, and you kinda get the sense during offseason conditioning through some of the hard workouts, the tightness of the group together, the way that they overcome adversity together. So I walked away from listening to him like maybe they’re better than people are giving credit for.
"...I just get the sense that there’s something uniquely special about this year’s group and I’m excited to see what Alabama can do to kind of build on last year’s playoff appearance and win there in Norman, Oklahoma."
Doering's comments are a nice change of pace from the ranting and ravings of the likes of Paul Finebaum and Stephen A. Smith, or all the national media members who have been waiting for years to shovel dirt on Alabama's grave.
Brown projected a certain level of confidence in Tampa. This team does have a chance to be special, contrary to popular sentiment. There's a lot of motivation in Tuscaloosa, from the coaching staff all the way to the last man on the roster.
Alabama is a hungry team, ready to put the embarrassing loss in last year's Rose Bowl behind them. That game served as a wake-up call, and while this team will be young and growing pains are to be expected, they are also supremely talented.
The defense should be elite, and if the offensive line gels, then this team is capable of competing for a national title.
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