Last year was great for Arizona Cardinals OL Evan Mathis.

Then a member of the Denver Broncos, the former Alabama standout watched the Tide win a national championship in January and then won the Super Bowl in February.

Though he’s switched teams, the Cardinals are considered by most to be a Super Bowl contender, so Mathis is hoping for a repeat in 2016.

He said Arizona’s emergence as an NFC power was a big factor in his decision to join the Cardinals this offseason:

“Seeing how far they went and how much talent there was and how much of that was returning, seeing the type of offense, the type of power that there is,” Mathis said during an appearance on “Arizona Sports 98.7 FM’s Off the Edge with B-Train” on KMVP-FM in Phoenix, “this team definitely had potential when I was trying to make the decision, and that was a huge part of it. I think that we’ve continued to grow, it’s a team that loves to work, a coaching staff that loves to work and I’m expecting good things out of us.”

Though he’ll be working hard on Sundays with the Cardinals, it’s a safe bet Mathis will try to set aside some time on Saturdays to watch the Crimson Tide, who enter the season No. 1 in the AP Poll:

“There’s a ton of pride with that,” Mathis said. “I did miss the boat on the Saban era, but it’s great. It actually couldn’t be better for an alum the way things have gone there over the course of Saban’s tenure. It’s pretty much been a dynasty, and it’s something I’ve had a lot of fun with over the course of my career, messing with teammates about their colleges and rivalries and things like that. It’s been absolutely awesome to watch.”

A repeat of last year is a long shot for Mathis, but with the Cardinals on the rise and the Tide among the best teams in college football, it’s not out of the question.