Link: 2026 Transfer Portal

[KrAzY3]

Counter point: nobody outside the building knows what their plan is, you guys are assuming there isn’t one.

Staff deserves criticism for the NC state back, no doubt. Going after smaller backs with home run speed doesn’t mean he’s not learned anything. Isn’t Daniel Hill still here? Isn’t Crowell around 200 pounds?

You guys come across as cry babies because you’re not even being patient. You want them to evaluate the talent, negotiate, and sign the talent yesterday! This isn’t a vacuum, there is outside competition that has to be dealt with.

Let’s not even get started on how you guys would’ve responded if Bama signed Coleman for $2 million. Then that money could’ve been spent on another area.

Bottom line: nothing this staff can do will be right for some of you guys, and yall need to look inside to figure out why that is.

I feel like you might be lumping me in with some other people, and that's part of why I made my post. My post was simply about results. For instance, I think something like 15 of the 20 guys that entered the portal from Alabama are signed. The inactivity and lack of signings from Alabama are not the norm. This is not a situation where we are being impatient. Alabama is being slow! This is definitive fact.

I'm not saying there is no plan, I'm saying it's unfolding very slowly and time is running out because players are being signed and the availability pool is getting smaller and smaller.

So, here are the facts we are being cry babies about, and as you pointed out this isn't in a vacuum so we are comparing what Alabama is doing to other programs and wondering what's taking so long.

Alabama has the lowest rated portal class in the SEC. In terms of raw signee numbers, they are one ahead of Georgia who only lost 12 players to the portal.

To understand how slow Alabama is on this, Alabama has 6, Georgia has 5, Tennessee has 9, next closest is 12. Their class is tiny, that's not up for debate that's just fact.

If we zoom out further, Alabama's portal class has slipped to 60th overall. The total number of additions ties them for third least in all of the FBS.

So when you say nothing the staff do will be right, that's not true for me. But, they'd have to do something! I am waiting for that avalanche of additions. I wouldn't even be here if I expected a dumpster fire, I actually had hope they'd get a good RB and make some upgrades on the offensive line. I didn't even start complaining here about this portal class until relatively recently.

you guys know something the rest of us don’t?

Edit: No need to make a new post. No, I don't nor do I claim to. But after Alabama admittedly failed in the portal last year (supposedly what the GM said, not my words), and after Alabama rather publicly lost a commit and then whiffed on a few others, I'm just explaining, with actual numbers mind you why we're concerned.

You don't have to be concerned. You can be happy. You do you man, not trying to bum you out. Just providing an explanation, you can disregard it.

 

[The Ols]

Just to explain to the people with a more positive outlook why some of us are nervous and what the issues are. Alabama went into the portal with an apparent desire to upgrade positions and to address needs. In fact a lot of the portal departures appeared to be at Alabama's urging. Heck, Roq just signed with Western Kentucky. So a lot of those moves were Alabama just didn't like what they had. I'm alright with that.

You have to have a plan though. So where do we stand at this moment on key areas that Alabama themselves seemed to have targeted? Mind you I'm just going by portal additions and subtractions.

Offensive line: Worse
Running back: Worse
Receiver: Worse
Defense: Worse
Special teams: Upgrade (punter)

You can go hey, Alabama didn't really want to keep Horton, Formby, Keeley, Young etc... Alright, but where are their replacements? Then you go, well Alabama also didn't want to pay Smothers that much, alright but what's that money going toward instead? It's at the point now where I'm happy if they can break even on those groups, I'm almost past hoping for improvements.

The portal is still open last I checked. So many acting like we’re done, no more additions…you guys know something the rest of us don’t? Pretty sure still trying to acquire new talent.
Man…the negativity is brutal, over and over…

 

[NoNC4Tubs]

Jess is very careful about what he addresses.

He would not have brought it up or added personal commentary to it if it didn’t have credible legs.

He did NOT present it as fact....

 

[CoolBreeze]

You guys crack me up.

 

[CoolBreeze]

I would bet that some froghorn booster is going to get hosed on his ROI.

Rumored Cam Coleman NIL deal makes it look like Alabama was never had a chance

When you think Nick Saban and Alabama's dynasty years, Coach Saban never put all his eggs in one basket when trying to reel in big fish acquisitions. He always

bamahammer.com

 

[NoNC4Tubs]

Having said that, the class is still just too small. They're signing about as many as Georgia, but Georgia had 8 less guys leave via the portal. So every-time I look at the numbers it looks like Alabama is short about 10 portal additions relative to where they should be. It makes me very uneasy.

Dude, we aren't finished yet!

Judging a product before its finished is totally...

 

[CoolBreeze]

Hate to tell you, but if I am Ty and this is true then you'd see me in a cane uni next year.

Despite declaring for NFL draft, Ty Simpson getting lucrative offers to stay in college

Despite declaring for the 2026 NFL draft, Alabama QB Ty Simpson is hearing from college teams looking to convince him to transfer instead.

www.usatoday.com

 

[NoNC4Tubs]

Just to explain to the people with a more positive outlook why some of us are nervous and what the issues are. Alabama went into the portal with an apparent desire to upgrade positions and to address needs. In fact a lot of the portal departures appeared to be at Alabama's urging. Heck, Roq just signed with Western Kentucky. So a lot of those moves were Alabama just didn't like what they had. I'm alright with that.

You have to have a plan though. So where do we stand at this moment on key areas that Alabama themselves seemed to have targeted? Mind you I'm just going by portal additions and subtractions.

Offensive line: Worse
Running back: Worse
Receiver: Worse
Defense: Worse
Special teams: Upgrade (punter)

You can go hey, Alabama didn't really want to keep Horton, Formby, Keeley, Young etc... Alright, but where are their replacements? Then you go, well Alabama also didn't want to pay Smothers that much, alright but what's that money going toward instead? It's at the point now where I'm happy if they can break even on those groups, I'm almost past hoping for improvements.

Thanks for the encouraging update...mid-stream.

 

[CoolBreeze]

For those taking notes, 5 x O linemen entered the portal today.

 

[Cruloc]

Dude, we aren't finished yet!

Judging a product before its finished is totally...

Obviously we aren't finished, we have lots of roster spots to fill.

A we have a few new kids entering the portal here and there, but the portal closes on the 16th for new entrants.....except for Indiana and Miami entrants, who have an extra 5 days after the game.

There are a finite number of kids, with most of the ones we know of getting snatched up already. It would be great if this staff is in contact with kids and closed this out with a flurry.....but we are way way behind right now, that is a just a flat out fact.

Hopefully we land Haywood and Wilson II, that would help the bleeding some.

We just have a ton of needs, especially on the lines, and we appear to be banking on the fact that some freshmen are going to come in and contribute immediately.

 

[CrimsonBloodn62]

Hate to tell you, but if I am Ty and this is true then you'd see me in a cane uni next year.

Despite declaring for NFL draft, Ty Simpson getting lucrative offers to stay in college

Despite declaring for the 2026 NFL draft, Alabama QB Ty Simpson is hearing from college teams looking to convince him to transfer instead.

www.usatoday.com

Absolutely, that’s life changing money on top of what Ty’s already made off NIL at Bama

 

[CoolBreeze]

Here is an idea. There are thousands of guys in the portal and thousands of us poster here everyday. Let's all start evaluating these guys and start a thread breaking down the results. I will start with this guy:

Zach Cochnauer, Nevada Wolf Pack, Offensive Tackle

Zach Cochnauer is an Offensive Lineman from Farmington, MN.

247sports.com

 

[NoNC4Tubs]

I feel like you might be lumping me in with some other people, and that's part of why I made my post. My post was simply about results. For instance, I think something like 15 of the 20 guys that entered the portal from Alabama are signed. The inactivity and lack of signings from Alabama are not the norm. This is not a situation where we are being impatient. Alabama is being slow! This is definitive fact.

I'm not saying there is no plan, I'm saying it's unfolding very slowly and time is running out because players are being signed and the availability pool is getting smaller and smaller.

So, here are the facts we are being cry babies about, and as you pointed out this isn't in a vacuum so we are comparing what Alabama is doing to other programs and wondering what's taking so long.

Alabama has the lowest rated portal class in the SEC. In terms of raw signee numbers, they are one ahead of Georgia who only lost 12 players to the portal.

To understand how slow Alabama is on this, Alabama has 6, Georgia has 5, Tennessee has 9, next closest is 12. Their class is tiny, that's not up for debate that's just fact.

If we zoom out further, Alabama's portal class has slipped to 60th overall. The total number of additions ties them for third least in all of the FBS.

So when you say nothing the staff do will be right, that's not true for me. But, they'd have to do something! I am waiting for that avalanche of additions. I wouldn't even be here if I expected a dumpster fire, I actually had hope they'd get a good RB and make some upgrades on the offensive line. I didn't even start complaining here about this portal class until relatively recently.


Edit: No need to make a new post. No, I don't nor do I claim to. But after Alabama admittedly failed in the portal last year (supposedly what the GM said, not my words), and after Alabama rather publicly lost a commit and then whiffed on a few others, I'm just explaining, with actual numbers mind you why we're concerned.

You don't have to be concerned. You can be happy. You do you man, not trying to bum you out. Just providing an explanation, you can disregard it.

Wow!

Kind of like complaining mid-season that we didn't make the SECCG, when the season isn't even finished yet.......

Can we please wait until AFTER all of this to complain/criticize what we did and how we handled it...?!?!

 

[KrAzY3]

Dude, we aren't finished yet!

Judging a product before its finished is totally...

Relative to where they should be right now.

At no point did I say this class was done. At no point did I say this class was a failure. I just tried to explain the very logical and rational reason people were concerned.

Another poster commented about this from a perspective of negative and positive people. It seems like some people basically think they shouldn't have to hear negative things. I'm on the negative side sure, but I'm actually here hoping and waiting to hear some positive things.

The positive things need to be tangible. I've explained, with data, and with examples why people are concerned. You don't have to be.

Heck, for all the rainbows and unicorn positivity club people let me throw this out there for you.

May be Alabama is slow walking things because they know they screwed up in the portal last year, so they're trying to be really, really, really deliberate and are going to close strong because they have this plan it's just very slow to unfold because they don't want to make any mistakes.

I sincerely hope that's true, but I do not think it's out of line for me to say I'm concerned.

 

[CoolBreeze]

Passion. I love it! We put 11 pages in this thread yesterday and so far only 3 today. More passion please!

 

[jjv0004]

Just to explain to the people with a more positive outlook why some of us are nervous and what the issues are. Alabama went into the portal with an apparent desire to upgrade positions and to address needs. In fact a lot of the portal departures appeared to be at Alabama's urging. Heck, Roq just signed with Western Kentucky. So a lot of those moves were Alabama just didn't like what they had. I'm alright with that.

You have to have a plan though. So where do we stand at this moment on key areas that Alabama themselves seemed to have targeted? Mind you I'm just going by portal additions and subtractions.

Offensive line: Worse
Running back: Worse
Receiver: Worse
Defense: Worse
Special teams: Upgrade (punter)

You can go hey, Alabama didn't really want to keep Horton, Formby, Keeley, Young etc... Alright, but where are their replacements? Then you go, well Alabama also didn't want to pay Smothers that much, alright but what's that money going toward instead? It's at the point now where I'm happy if they can break even on those groups, I'm almost past hoping for improvements.

That's fine and maybe it shakes out like that in the end but jeesh, why don't all you guys actually let the process play out? Let's see if the team gets worse next year. We have no idea. We have no idea who they end up with in the portal. All any of you know right now is that they have lost more guys than they have signed. Literally, that's all anyone knows RIGHT NOW. IT'S NOT OVER YET.

I literally just want them to be better next year. I don't care how they get there. New assistant coaches, new players from the portal, recruits, guys that improved dramatically in the offseason. If they aren't better next year, then I am ready to move on from DeBoer.

 

[Cruloc]

Here is an idea. There are thousands of guys in the portal and thousands of us poster here everyday. Let's all start evaluating these guys and start a thread breaking down the results. I will start with this guy:

Zach Cochnauer, Nevada Wolf Pack, Offensive Tackle

Zach Cochnauer is an Offensive Lineman from Farmington, MN.

247sports.com

He would definitely have the added advantage of age and experience.

 

[CajunCrimson]

PLEASE NOTE --

Tone down the bickering a bit. Just a series of passionate opinions at the moment. No need to start turning this into a whizzing contest. There's so much to be frustrated over, I 100% get it!

Right now, we are arguing over symptoms we see or hear about -- we either have to line up behind OR push him out -- (him being CKD) -- but with regards to how we talk to each other, unless you are an Indiana fan, please be civil to one another. And if you are an Indiana fan... know your place!

 

[CoolBreeze]

He would definitely have the added advantage of age and experience.

Hold up now, still evaluating.

 

[CoolBreeze]

PLEASE NOTE --

Tone down the bickering a bit. Just a series of passionate opinions at the moment. No need to start turning this into a whizzing contest. There's so much to be frustrated over, I 100% get it!

Right now, we are arguing over symptoms we see or hear about -- we either have to line up behind OR push him out -- (him being CKD) -- but with regards to how we talk to each other, unless you are an Indiana fan, please be civil to one another. And if you are an Indiana fan... know your place!

Indiana fan LOL