Was the season a success anyway?

[TDBama78]

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

He probably said or should have said "they don't make like they used to".

 

[Nothingfaced]

The Iron Bowl streak was extended to 6. Georgia’s home streak snapped.

First CFP win since 2021. OU monkey off their back. There are silver linings.

Yesterday’s nightmare is still a little raw; I can’t really speak to that. Atlanta? I can’t even hold that against them. Ask any team in America to try and beat Georgia twice in one season.

 

[tideindc]

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.

If you’re old enough you remember the national title game in Miami , NY day, 1972 ag Nebraska. That might’ve felt slightly worse..one.. cuz I was a kid, and second , cuz we were unbeaten and ranked #2 in the country. Most of us ( I know there were a few super optimists here) didn’t really perceive this team as the best in the country. In 1971….we felt we were. Boy were we wrong! 28-0 at halftime!

 

[92tide]

If you’re old enough you remember the national title game in Miami , NY day, 1972 ag Nebraska. That might’ve felt slightly worse..one.. cuz I was a kid, and second , cuz we were unbeaten and ranked #2 in the country. Most of us ( I know there were a few super optimists here) didn’t really perceive this team as the best in the country. In 1971….we felt we were. Boy were we wrong! 28-0 at halftime!

i was 2 1/2 and was running around the living room jumping over my dad who was watching the game laying on the floor. i broke my collar bone and had to go the the hospital. i guess i saved him from having to watch all of that

 

[BAMARICH]

I guess it’s a philosophical difference. I personally don’t care how much we lost by. I doubt UGA fans are finding much solace in losing by 3 in the quarterfinals right now.

There are “good losses” and “bad losses”. When you’re non-competitive in two games and get beaten in every facet of the game, that’s a “bad loss”. If our losses to UGA and IU were similar to Georgia’s loss to Ole Miss yesterday, then yes… it was a successful season.

 

[BAMARICH]

I was listening to Luke and Jimmy this morning. And they were talking about needing to replace some of the coaching staff Which I don’t disagree with

My question is, when has ever changing out the coaching staff, but keeping the head coach worked? I know Nick would replace coaches But many times that was due to them moving onto a promotion for another team They were probably circumstances where they were in fact, terminated, but I don’t remember many

Usually, when you keep the coach, but replace the staff, all you are doing is prolonging the inevitable See the university of Arkansas for more information

And yes, for some reason, my period button is not working on my phone sorry

Major Applewhite… Bill O’Brien… Pete Golding.

 

[TideMan09]

Yes, the season was a success. We made the playoffs. Granted, I would have preferred a better showing against Indiana, but it didn't happen.

We'll never see another era like the Saban era. Not in the pay-for-play NIL environment. Schools like Texas, aTm, Stanford, Michigan, So. Cal (and the Ivies...)... schools like those have lots of very wealthy alumni who can drop a few tens of millions every year for NIL payments. We don't.

We're spoiled to competing for championships every year. Those days are gone. Yes, we want and expect to be competitive every year, and maybe make a championship run every decade or so... if we're lucky. I hope our unrealistic expectations for the future don't push us into irrational management actions that will further impede our ability to have a successful program in the future.

Wellllll..They also said we'd never see another run, like we did under Coach Bryant as well, guess what they were wrong about that when we hired Coach Saban & he rewrote the record books..

With the right HC in place Bama will always the standards in college football & will always rewrite the record book's with the right HC in place..

 

[Tidewater]

i was 2 1/2 and was running around the living room jumping over my dad who was watching the game laying on the floor. i broke my collar bone and had to go the the hospital. i guess i saved him from having to watch all of that

Radical self-sacrifice. What filial obligation!

 

[Tidewater]

I have to say a qualified success. There were some bright spots (mid-season string of victories, generally getting penalties under control) and some troubling low spots (looking completely unprepared against Fla State, getting curb-stomped by UGA and the Hoosiers), and the inability to run the ball.
The most troubling things were half-hearted efforts in the opening and closing games (jogging on the field when hustle would have made a difference), coaches up-and-down efforts at game-planning, and worst of all, the "we're close to the top" comments. The team (coaches, players) seem to be on an emotional roller-coaster, high highs and low lows.

 

[rolltide7854]

We need some Will Muschamp intensity.

 

[countrytider]

We need some Will Muschamp intensity.

I’m not crazy about Womack’s style of defense….but I will say defense is the least of our worries.

Unless you’re referring to some Will Mischamp intensity as a HC? In which I’ll pass on that also.

 

[Bill from NYC]

Great post. The OL is terrible. Proctor isn't a bad player but he should be playing guard, or maybe right tack;e. Our guard play was sub-par, and right tackle was a problem all season. Brailsford seems like a good player but it's hard to rate him due to what he was surrounded by.

Hill is slow, Jam lacked speed and power (although he was great in pass protection). The backs who did have speed (Riley and Dear) had few openings to run through. As for Ty, I suspect that he was hurt for half the season, at least. With his OL I'm not surprised.

Despite the above this team survived enough to make the playoffs (despite a brutal schedule) and advance one round so yes; I would say the season was a success. Great success? No, and we never will be truly successful until we fix the OL big time, and add some runners with that speed/power combination.

Jmo.

 

[arthurdawg]

Given that we could be heading towards Florida or Auburn like status... This was a successful season. But we have clear cut areas that need improvement.

The DL is solid, but we need a bellwether 5* disruptor type in the middle of the DL and to generally tighten up against the run. Wommack will need to reeval his system a bit too. Overall, the D was not the problem.

The offense has many problems and it is hard to say exactly where the percentages of fault lay... Grubbs was not impressive. Our receivers have room for improvement. Ty was very good but you can see the emotional lability that slowed him from playing previously. The OL is probably the biggest problem though. It has to improve... Heck, they just need to get 5 guys and rep them extensively so that they don't look like the keystone cops bumbling into each other.

And frankly, none of running backs would have made the top 3-4 on most of our Saban teams. Jerome Ford was our #5 in 2019 and he transferred to be the feature back at Cincinnati and has been playing in the league for 4 years...

So the question is really, can the coaching staff identify, evolve, and fix those problems and take us a step further next year?

 

[JDCrimson]

Amari Kight was on our team for a bit transferred to UCF and was subbed in last night for Seattle at LT.

Its frustrating to see guys we signed transfer away and receive more development than with Bama.

 

[arthurdawg]

Amari Kight was on our team for a bit transferred to UCF and was subbed in last night for Seattle at LT.

Its frustrating to see guys we signed transfer away and receive more development than with Bama.

We had occasional talented guys under Saban who just didn't buy into his system and the process but flourished elsewhere. Knight was one of those. Glad he found his way and I hope any young football player finds his place.

 

[CB4]

So was this season a success? How did it compare to DeBoer’s first year? Mike Rodak I think does a pretty good job of an apples to apples comparison. This was his article post game of Friday January 2nd. I haven’t seen it posted anywhere. If so my apologies.

How much better did Alabama get in 2025? It’s a fine line

Alabama declined statistically in several metrics from 2024 to 2025.

247sports.com

 

[editder]

I guess it’s a philosophical difference. I personally don’t care how much we lost by. I doubt UGA fans are finding much solace in losing by 3 in the quarterfinals right now.

But probably more than they would if they had lost 38-3.

 

[SkullDuckery]

Interesting and I think the correct perspective from Mario.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2008191812813611171

 

[selmaborntidefan]

I'm willing to say it was a step in the right direction from last year.

Kinda ended the same, though.

 

[davefrat]

Interesting and I think the correct perspective from Mario.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2008191812813611171

I don't think anyone with any sense expected DeBoer or anyone else to replicate what Saban did.

Mind you, I say anyone with any sense.

But I think it's fair to say that many among us also didn't expect us to turn in so many jello-soft pudding level performances under the new coach either.