Three big reasons to be fired up about Alabama as SEC Media Days approach
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The 4th of July fireworks lit up the Alabama night sky, celebrating America’s 250th birthday with full force, and that reality means it’s almost time to celebrate the very thing Tuscaloosa lives and breathes year-round.
Alabama fans have done football full force since the Crimson Tide played their very first season in 1892. Generations of Alabama fans have been treated to fireworks on the field to fill their hearts and stoke their passions, and it’s getting to be that time of year again.
The sands in that offseason hourglass are almost gone. The season opener is less than 2 months away, fall camp is a few weeks away and SEC Media Days are mere days away.
Almost time for more fireworks, and here are 3 really big reasons to be fired up about Alabama football as Media Days approach:
1. It’s almost time to see that star-studded secondary
At a program that’s long specialized in having an embarrassment of riches in a lot of areas, we give you the 2026 Alabama secondary. The Tide have a ton of talent in multiple areas, as always, but it’s at the back end of the defense where Bama should shine the brightest this fall. If Alabama is going to win that first national title since 2020, this much-heralded defensive backfield needs to be as special as it’s set up to be.
We’ll start with the safeties, because Bama might be blessed enough to have not 1 but 2 of the best safeties in the country. Bray Hubbard and Keon Sabb are that good, and they both brushed aside the tease of the NFL Draft this past spring to come back and play together for 1 last fall in Tuscaloosa. Hubbard and Sabb will bring with them the best possible mix if you’re an Alabama fan — their supreme talent, their wealth of experience and the motivation to get the Tide back to the top of college football.
If there was a bit of a dropoff at cornerback, Alabama would still boast one of the best secondaries in the country. But there’s not. Instead, there’s the playmaking duo of Zabien Brown and Dijon Lee Jr. who’ll also be returning to go with Hubbard and Sabb. All Brown did as a sophomore last season was become the first Crimson Tide cornerback to return 2 interceptions for touchdowns since the great Antonio Langham did it in 1992.
Lee burst onto the scene last fall and stuck, earning a spot on the freshman All-SEC team. Red Morgan also returns after establishing himself as a strong tackler at the slot corner position in 2025, and Bama beefed up its cornerback depth through the portal with the addition of Mercer transfer Carmelo O’Neal.
Who knows what Alabama’s offense will become in 2026, and there are some question marks along the defensive line and at inside linebacker. But 1 area where there are no questions, no doubts, is in that stacked secondary. It’s loaded and ready to punish offenses.
2. It’s almost time for the final leg of that QB battle
The tug of war between redshirt junior Austin Mack and redshirt freshman Keelon Russell has officially stretched into the later portion of the offseason, and when fall camp breaks in a matter of weeks it will surely be the most talked about spectacle. An anxious but excited fan base will be watching ever closely, but so will the rest of the SEC and the country, as whoever prevails between Russell and Mack is likely to have major implications in the SEC and national title chases.
Kalen DeBoer should get himself prepared to be peppered daily with questions about the final leg of this exhausting quarterback battle. Because when it’s Alabama and when it involves who the starting quarterback is going to be, and when the season opener is barreling ever closer, the hysteria is bound to mushroom a tad. There will be a whole list of things settled during fall camp, but let’s be real here — Bama’s QB saga will be daily headline stuff until DeBoer provides the banner headline by naming a starter.
And let’s also be real. Just because a winner is declared doesn’t mean the saga will drift away. Because that winner will be watched and judged with the highest of expectations in the opener as the coaching staff, the media and the fans decide collectively if the right quarterback was picked. It’ll be a bit of a circus until — or if — the starter settles in and starts leading Alabama to victories.
Russell was thought to have the edge on Mack going into fall camp after an excellent performance in the A-Day Spring Game. But Kalen DeBoer had high praise for both signal callers when talking a few months ago to a podcast host who knows a thing or 2 about playing quarterback at Alabama (Greg McElroy). Sure, there’ll be a heavy dose of stress involved, but Bama might be unleashing its latest star quarterback on the SEC this fall, and that fact alone should thrill the heck out of this fan base.
3. It’s almost time to see if Kalen DeBoer can pull a Year 3 Nick Saban
Like the quarterback drama, this one comes with a side serving of stress for Alabama fans. But it’s stress that’s well worth the effort and it comes with the territory, because this is Alabama and DeBoer got paid in the offseason despite an underwhelming 20-8 record during his first 2 seasons in T-Town. DeBoer’s new 7-year deal is worth $87.5 million and will pay him $12.5 million per season, and this season happens to be his third one at Alabama.
Anybody remember what happened in Nick Saban‘s third season at Bama? Yeah, it ended with a national title, his first of 6 in Tuscaloosa as a modern-day dynasty was born. As much as DeBoer is still trying to prove his doubters wrong at Alabama, he did nearly lead Washington to a national title before coming to Bama and he did lead the Tide to the College Football Playoff quarterfinals last season.
DeBoer knows the weight of expectation going into Year 3 is enormous after a Playoff run that came with a lump of coal at the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day. He knows what he signed up for in coming to Alabama, in replacing a legend, and he’s embracing it full throttle. This reworked deal extended DeBoer’s contract by 2 years, with it now running through the 2032 season, so there is a pathway for a successful run that can start this fall.
There were pathways out of the Bama pressure cooker this offseason, a few chances to escape the Saban shadow and head elsewhere. DeBoer was linked to the vacancies at Michigan and Penn State, but he stayed put. He’s obviously in it for the long haul at Alabama now, and DeBoer will no doubt be discussing that at Media Days. All of this should light an extra flame under a fan base that’s been at it for 134 years now, demanding the absolute best from people like DeBoer and more often than not getting rewarded.
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Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
