By: JC Nevils
By now everyone has seen and processed the Nick Saban news, as
he has finally retired from the game of football. The majority of
college football has been waiting for the day that Alabama no longer
dominates the college football landscape. On the other hand, the
Crimson Tide fans absolutely dreaded this day. They had to know
this day would come sooner or later, but the backlash and whining that has come
with it makes it even more obvious that they have been living in a
fairy tale world. Now it’s time to come back down to Earth with the
regular folks.
Ever since Saban landed in Tuscaloosa back in 2007, he has had a
stranglehold on not only the recruiting trail but everything else that
comes with college football, it seems. He has an insane record of
206-29 with an all-time leading seven national titles to make him the
greatest to ever do it. With that comes borderline delusional
expectations year in and year out, along with an unrealistic fan base.
Now, I will say that if you win that much consistently, you should
have high expectations and a big head to a certain extent. Alabama
fans from the Bear Bryant era until now have seen mostly winning football,
but from the mid-90s to 2006 there was a lot of losing and
dysfunction going on, especially during the Mike Shula era.
For the newer fans who were born in 2000 or later, it has been a
completely different story. Their entire lives, they have literally seen
nothing but dominance at the highest level, so for them, this is
entirely new territory. If you didn’t know any better, you would think
it was a funeral, but to think that they would win on this level
forever is just naive. Nothing ever stays the same in life, and
everything always has to come to an end. For the NEO fans, along
with some older ones who have caught the same disease, this time
will hit them the hardest, as they are already in shambles.
For the first time ever and a long time for others, the good ole
Crimson Tide faithful has to see what it is like to be on the same
playing field as everyone else. Since his retirement announcement,
they have lost a combined 20-30 players to the transfer portal, along with
their 2024 and 2025 classes being decimated. Two of their biggest
losses to date, which hurt the most, have been star safety and All-American Caleb Downs, whom as of yesterday, transferred to Ohio
State, and former five-star signee Julian Sayin at quarterback. They
had to know some attrition was going to happen, but they didn’t
quite know it would be this bad. That’s what happens when you lose
the GOAT.
BREAKING: Former Alabama DB Caleb Downs has Committed to Ohio State, a source tells @On3sports
The No. 1 Player in the Transfer Portal totaled 107 Tackles, 2 FF, & 1 INT in 2023
Was named 1st Team Freshman All-American, SEC Freshman of the Year, & Shaun Alexander Freshman of… pic.twitter.com/nIimDPAs5n
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) January 20, 2024
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They couldn’t have thought that all these top players were just
coming to Alabama just for the scenery in Tuscaloosa right? Think
again. They have been under the Saban haze for so long that they
have even forgotten that there are other schools that can actually
accumulate great players. Top prospects simply wanted to be
coached, led, and developed by the best. That goes for any school
with a pedigree. How do you think they built their history? By
recruiting the best and winning ball games. All the rest is just for
show, and they are getting a harsh dose of reality.
The most audacious observation to date is how some fan accounts
and even media personalities from all over all of a sudden seem to
think that since Bama can’t add any players at the moment, there is this glaring problem. Granted, there could be a few tweaks to the
dates of the portal, but not one peep was said when Tennessee lost
30-plus players to the portal after Jeremy Pruitt was fired or when Lincoln Riley left Oklahoma for USC and took all of the best players
with him. Also (*whispers*), Washington and Arizona are
going through the exact same situation at the moment, and not a
word has been said. Kind of hypocritical, don’t you think?
The NCAA has created an absolute mess with the transfer portal.
Alabama’s roster is basically open season for 30 days. Tampering everywhere.
Meanwhile, Bama can’t do anything in response because the portal is closed for other teams that have not had a coaching change. Nuts.
— Bama Beat (@TheBamaBeat) January 15, 2024
Now, I do think they made the best hire possible with the acquisition
of Kalen DeBoer from Washington, as he just led them to the
national championship, but this is a whole different beast. Not only
is he having to deal with keeping his team intact, but he also has to put
together an entirely new staff along with getting acclimated to the
SEC culture. So far, it seems he is just trying to keep his head above
water, but this is just the beginning. For a long time Alabama
football has been a given to have success, but for the foreseeable
future the fans, along with the rest of the Crimson Tide faithful, will
have to figure it out and get a dose of what it feels like to be back on
Earth.
