Greg McElroy Says He’s Concerned About Alabama’s Future for First Time

Alabama suffered its second loss of the regular season last weekend, which is rare for a program of its stature. Since 2011, the Crimson Tide have only lost two regular season games one time, in 2019.

That result was concerning for one former Alabama star. ESPN analyst and former Crimson Tide quarterback Greg McElroy said he is worried about his former team.

“This is the first time that I have ever actually been concerned about the future of the program,” he said on the Always College Football podcast.

McElroy explained that all the coaches now at the program were not there when Nick Saban laid the foundation for success early in his tenure. Therefore, he believes the team has lost some of its edge.

“Here’s the problem right now—there are a lot of guys on that roster, and a lot of coaches frankly on that staff, that didn’t really have anything to do with the foundation of the program being created,” McElroy continued. “There’s really only one guy that’s been there from the beginning, that has a great understanding of how this program was built, and that’s Nick Saban”

The former quarterback, who attended Alabama from 2007 to ’10, doesn’t think the personnel is good enough to take advantage of matchups on either side of the ball. However, his biggest criticism is the lack of accountability.

“When we went to Alabama, we chose Alabama because we wanted to be held accountable,” he said. “Our summer program was hell on earth. Each and every practice was hell on earth. The only thing that was fun was the result, everything about playing in the program was incredibly difficult but we ultimately knew that the misery we experienced Monday to Friday, if it gave us a good result on Saturday, it was all worth it. I think they’ve abandoned that in some ways in an effort to create a more player-friendly environment.”

The Crimson Tide could miss the College Football Playoff for only the second time since the tournament’s inception in 2015. That, combined with the rest of the SEC’s success this year, means Alabama may have to change its approach for the first time in a long time.

• Bama Central: Crimson Tikes: The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round

For more Alabama coverage, go to Bama Central.