To Quote The Great Merle Haggard: Are The Good Times Really Over For Good At Alabama?
The story came, as we knew it would someday, like a bat out of you-know-what.
When the undisputed Greatest of All Time walks away, there is more than just a seismic rumble. No sir. When Nick Saban tells the world he's done--as was the case of Paul "Bear" Bryant in 1982--the tectonic plates of the entire college football world get a big ol' shake
After a story like this breaks--and credit my friend Chris Low of ESPN for breaking it--I like to sit back and let it marinate for a while.
Then I go back to it. I've done that. And here is what I want to share with you today.
First of all, to my Alabama friends:
It's going to be okay.
Some of you calling into Paul Finebaum last week sounded unsure if the Crimson Tide should even go on.
Losing the best college football coach ever, combined with the mass exodus of really, really, great players is unnerving. I get that. And it doesn't help that the NCAA rules--while well intentioned-- basically turn your roster into the Home Shopping Network.
Accordingly, it may take a little while for Kalen DeBoer to get the Alabama program to where everybody wants it to be. But history tells us that if Alabama does have a lull, it won't last for long. Specifically:
**--The Alabama football world didn't come to an end in 1930 when Wallace Wade. after winning national championships in 1925, 1926, and 1930, shocked college football by leaving Tuscaloosa for Duke, where he won 110 games in 16 years.
**--Frank Thomas, a quarterback for Knute Rockne at Notre Dame, replaced Wade and won 115 games in 16 seasons plus two national championships from 1931-46. He won four SEC champioships and took Alabama to three Rose Bowls.
It could have been an even greater run but due to various health problems brought on by high blood pressure, Thomas had to retire at the age of 48.
**--Alabama then hired Harold "Red" Drew. a former assistant for the Tide for 11 seasons (1931-41) who was head coach at Ole Miss for one season. He took the Crimson Tide to the Sugar Bowl and the Orange Bowl, won the SEC championship in 1953, and was SEC Coach of th year in 1952. But in 1954 Alabama went 4-5-2 and Drew was relieved of his duties. He finished with a record of 54-28-7.
*--Rock bottom for the Alabama football program came over the next three years as J.B. "Ears" Whitworth was 4-24-2 in 1955-57.
Again, Alabama didn't stay there long as school officials convinced former Crimson Tide player Paul "Bear" Bryant to leave Texas A&M, where he had been head coach for four seasons (1954-58).
The rest, of course, history with 205 wins, 14 SEC championships and six national championship in 25 seasons (1958-1982) in Tuscaloosa.
Then there were four seasons under Ray Perkins (1983-86), three seasons unde Bill Curry (1987-89), and seven seasons under Gene Stallings (1990-96) which included a national championship in 1992,
Then came the toughest stretch with Mike DuBose (four seasons), Dennis Franchione (2 seasons), Mike Price (who never coached a game and was fired due to off the field actions), and Mike Shula (4 seasons). There was one SEC championship (1999) and no national championships in those 10 seasons.
Then, thanks to the peristance of athletics director Mal Moore, Nick Saban became head coach at Alabama in 2007 and put togethe the greatest run in college football history: (195 wins, nine SEC championships and six national championships in 17 seasons.)
I gave you all of that history as another reminder that, like all college football programs, Alabamal has had its difficult stretches. But the Crimson Tide, as we have seen, doesn't stay down for long.
Kalen DeBoer, who has two seasons as a head coach at the Power Five level (Washington, 2022 and) 2023), walks into an SEC that is getting better every day. Georgia has taken over as the best overall program in the confernce (and in the country for that matter). And now, with the new SEC scheduling model that goes into effect this season, Alabama will play Georgia every other year, starting on Sept. 28 in Tuscaloosa.
Texas and Oklahoma join the league this season. Texas is coming off a Big 12 championship and a trip to the College Football Playoffs. Alabama plays at Oklahoma on Nov. 23.
Ole Miss and Missouri are on a lot of early Top 10 lists with LSU not that far behind. Alabama plays all three.
Bottom line: After 17 years of expecting to win everytime it suited up, Alabama has to go through a transition year in 2024. How long will the transition be?
No idea. But it's going to be a lot of fun finding out.