Was the season a success anyway?

[colbysullivan]

Based on preseason expectations? Absolutely not

Based on how I felt after week 1? Maybe

The bottom line is simply making the playoffs and winning one game isn’t good enough at Bama. Finishing the season ranked in the 100s in rushing yards is borderline firable. We also looked woefully unprepared in too many games. CKD has one more year to fix things.

 

[CoolBreeze]

I'd say it is a pretty successful year but certainly not the way it ended. CKD has a 20-8 record at Alabama. He is 124-20 overall which suggests to me that he can and will make the adjustments to right this ship. The 2026 season will tell the tale and I fully expect a renewed emphasis on physicality and scheme tweaks benefiting the running game. I remain hopeful he can get it done.

 

[ReturnToGlory]

Successful in that we got further this year than last. But really unsatisfying with the way we played toward the end of the season. I'm not one of the people who makes decisions up there, so I try to stay positive and hope for the best.

Not sure if CKD can meet the program's expectations, but it's too early to say he can't either.

 

[Krymsonman]

All I know is we came in bad and went out worse than just about any BAMA team ever. We had some bright spots after the FSU game, but once people figured us out, every game was a dog fight. We didn't seem to get better as the season progressed. You can't be a top team playing soft football. I hope this coaching staff can figure that out.

 

[davefrat]

Based on preseason expectations? Absolutely not

Based on how I felt after week 1? Maybe

The bottom line is simply making the playoffs and winning one game isn’t good enough at Bama. Finishing the season ranked in the 100s in rushing yards is borderline firable. We also looked woefully unprepared in too many games. CKD has one more year to fix things.

Your post raises another question.

Where should we be ranked at the end of the season?

The way we limped to the finish line, I’m thinking 15ish?

 

[InsaneMustang]

All I know is we came in bad and went out worse than just about any BAMA team ever. We had some bright spots after the FSU game, but once people figured us out, every game was a dog fight. We didn't seem to get better as the season progressed. You can't be a top team playing soft football. I hope this coaching staff can figure that out.

'went out worse than just above any BAMA team ever'

That's a bold, and incorrect statement. There have been so many Bama teams that were worse than this one.

 

[BAMA JAMMA]

Based on preseason expectations while wearing my crimson glasses, no.

Based on the actual season, I’d say yes, but it’s a tough one to swallow given the way we lost this year. Realistically we overachieved in W/L record based on the quality of the team this season, because some of those W’s came with a bit of fortune the ball bouncing our way on one or two plays or calls. We could easily have 2-3 more losses and no trip to the playoffs. So yea I’d call it a successful season although not what we are accustomed to seeing on the field.

We are soft on both sides of the ball and that has to be addressed next season. If it’s not, then yea time to circle the wagons and regroup top to bottom. I’m hopeful CKD will get better Oline coaches and S&C personnel to get us back to “the Bama standard”.

 

[tideindc]

'went out worse than just above any BAMA team ever'

That's a bold, and incorrect statement. There have been so many Bama teams that were worse than this one.

Not with this level of talent.

 

[22Musso22]

Was the season a success anyway?​

 

[bamaclimber]

Not a success. The losses looked WAY worse than the wins, and a couple of those wins were as much luck as coaching (or were just the other team imploding - see Oklahoma and South Carolina).

Alabama did not improve from beginning to end. It opened the season with an emabahrasing loss, and it closed the season with an even more embarrassing loss. In the middle was a level of inconsistency that makes Jekyll and Hyde look balanced.

 

[TENNTIDE1]

Was the season a success? I will let others determine that. Hypothetically, I want to know what the coaches honestly think. They review film of every game and have analysts or GAs that do as well. How do they honestly assess the team/players and their own (coaches) performance in the SECCG and the debacle last night? And I'm okay if CKD wants to burn that black hoodie, the mojo is gone from that thing. 

 

[tusks_n_raider]

Your post raises another question.

Where should we be ranked at the end of the season?

The way we limped to the finish line, I’m thinking 15ish?

My guess would be below 8th but above 13th.

In other words 9th to 12th

I can’t imagine staying 8th much less any higher when we took the worst beating of any team in the Quarters.

 

[Krymsonman]

'went out worse than just above any BAMA team ever'

That's a bold, and incorrect statement. There have been so many Bama teams that were worse than this one.

That's probably true. I've been around long enough to see a lot of down times for BAMA. But I've never seen a BAMA team - with so much on the line - play like we played yesterday.

 

[BamaHoopsBoi]

11 wins, SEC championship appearance and a playoff win in HC second year with this program? I’d say that’s a successful season.

The question remains, can we build on that? So far we have from Year 1 to Year 2. Even with severe ailments OL/RBs, etc.

I’m hopeful, I’m certainly not ready to give up just yet!

 

[rolltide7854]

Go read '81's post in the post game thread.

That was an excellent post, I agree with everything he said. Everything starts with the OL and the DL is a must to have an elite defense.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

*National* Championship. The real goal.

Yep.

Never heard SEC titles mattered except as far as you usually had to win the SEC to have a shot at the national championship.


“The pursuit of a third straight national championship motivated and propelled the Alabama football team, from the challenging note tacked onto the door of the cafeteria after the 1966 Orange Bowl through the final seconds of the 1967 Sugar Bowl. The national championship was not just an abstract concept—it was the reason for their existence. No one talked about winning the Southeastern Conference championship or any other secondary goal. Every player on the team made a commitment to do whatever it took—to work hard, to sacrifice, to reach, to persevere—in order to place the Crimson Tide’s name in the history books, and from their standpoint, arguing against the weight of their perfection defied logic and justice.”

Keith Dunnavant, “The Missing Ring”

 

[Jack Bourbon]

What did Saban say about the game afterward? He mustve been pretty unimpressed

 

[RTR2u]

What did Saban say about the game afterward? He mustve been pretty unimpressed

I'd really like to know this as well. I caught the very end of the broadcast of the crew that picked the outcome before the game started and he wasn't with them.

 

[countrytider]

Yes, Jalen Milroe won an SEC championship, which has about as much salience as "Dan Marino won the AFC Championship for the 1984 Dolphins."

That is not the expected standard around here, and he was as much of the problem as he was a fair to middling player who could sometimes run like a deer and pass like one as well.


Please note this is the only time in world history Milroe and Marino will ever be mentioned in the same

IMO it starts with an SEC Championship. Saban always said that’s the goal. Not propping Milroe up, he was terrible.

It’s a credit to Saban to take that ‘23 team and win an SEC title. Best coaching job of his career….and it didn’t end in a National title.

If this team would have won the SEC, I think we’d all be feeling a little better right now.

That’s as nice as I know how to say it.

Mods feel free to continue to delete my direct responses if anyone is offended by this.

 

[Jack Bourbon]

I'd really like to know this as well. I caught the very end of the broadcast of the crew that picked the outcome before the game started and he wasn't with them.

Probably throwing up somewhere