Florida State’s 31-17 win over Alabama to open the 2025 season was a massive wake-up call for the Crimson Tide. Alabama couldn’t run (87 yards on 23 carries) and couldn’t convert on third down (6 of 17) or fourth down (FSU made three stops).
“I choose to believe we got a good football team,” Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer said that day. “But we can’t play on our heels. We’re not going to be what we think we can be, what we want to be, if that’s the case.”
Alabama showed it could be far better, winning eight straight games and reaching the SEC title game (a lopsided Georgia win). The Crimson Tide were a controversial CFP team even if its merits for the CFP were debated, and after a win at Oklahoma in a first-round game Alabama was trounced by eventual national champion Indiana in the Rose Bowl.
DeBoer feels Alabama needed that FSU game to light a fire within the players.
“That's one that certainly put us in a tough spot a year ago and we got to make sure we're at our best. It's a home game for us. We got to protect our home turf there and that goes for every game. Not just that one,” DeBoer said.
“But it's one that put us in a tough spot. Our guys did a great job responding last year to the adversity that hit them pretty much smack in the face week one, responding with winning 10 of the next 11.”
An 11-4 season is good at a number of schools. But not necessarily at Alabama, which has championship aspirations annually and fell well short in the SEC title game as well as the playoff.
“7-1 in the conference, making the conference championship, winning a playoff game,” DeBoer said on Wednesday in Tampa at the SEC media event. “We obviously fell short of our goals when it comes to winning the conference championship, winning more games, and competing for a national championship in the playoffs, but there are some steps that I felt we took.”
Alabama had 10 players selected in the NFL Draft this spring, including a pair of first-round picks in offensive tackle Kadyn Proctor and quarterback Ty Simpson. The program no longer has the depth like back in the Nick Saban days, before revenue sharing and NIL really began to thin out rosters.
DeBoer mentioned Alabama has 50 new players and it’s roughly the same number of new players at FSU. The teams will look quite different when they face off in Tuscaloosa on Sept. 19.
“I think there is a toughness. There is a culture that exists you don't win that many games in our conference without, and we want to continue to build,” DeBoer said. “… there are over 50 new players in the football program, guys that have maybe been a part of the league at atmosphere places, but a lot of guys that haven't.
So every year you start over. Every year you build that foundation. You take the experiences you've had, and I think those collectively together are the ones that you really look at.”
Alabama had a dreadful rush offense, just 125th in the FBS (104.1 yards per game) in 2025. It’s a point of emphasis for DeBoer this offseason, but also a challenge considering Alabama lost Proctor and a captain in center Parker Brailsford.
The Tide added five-star tailback EJ Crowell to a room that includes 244-pound Daniel Hill, Kevin Riley and AK Dear.
“We want to be able to run the football better,” DeBoer said. “I think that will help the overall team, overall when it comes to protecting your quarterback. Makes play calling easier. So that's something we've addressed and stressed within our team.”
DeBoer intends to take the quarterback competition well into preseason camp. Austin Mack, a Washington transfer, is battling with Keelon Russell for the starting job. Russell was the No. 1 player in Texas and among the top prospects nationally in the 2025 class, according to 247Sports.
Regardless of who wins the job, Alabama’s quarterback will be throwing to Ryan Coleman-Williams. In two seasons at Alabama, Coleman-Williams has 1,554 receiving yards and 12 touchdown catches.
DeBoer said he’s weighing the quarterbacks’ poise and ability to move the offense down the field.
“They're high level, elite quarterbacks. Fortunately we have them both in our program and it's going to be a competition that's going to lead to a tough decision, one we're fortunate to have,” DeBoer said. “It's going to be one that when we do make the decision we'll be confident we'll do a great job. They are two guys that are well respected by our entire football team because of how they work, who they are as people, and the production and what they look like on the football field.”
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