Should Alabama be Concerned with Its National Expectations? Just a Minute

Welcome to BamaCentral’s "Just a Minute," a video series featuring Alabama Crimson Tide on SI's beat writers. Multiple times per week, the writers will group up or film solo to provide their take on a topic concerning the Crimson Tide or the landscape of college sports.

Watch the above video as BamaCentral basketball and football writer Hunter De Siver discusses the narrative surrounding Alabama football.

Following the first day of fall camp, Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer was asked during the press conference if his players are paying attention to the doubts from outside the program.

DeBoer's answer: "Yeah, we are definitely aware.”

For the last couple of decades, Alabama has been The Standard of college football and a program that is considered the face of the sport. The Crimson Tide's prestigious status was led by head coach Nick Saban, but he announced his retirement after the 2023 season. DeBoer has filled Saban's role the last two years, and while Alabama made the College Football Playoff last season, it hasn't necessarily lived up to being the mecca.

Entering the 2026 season, Alabama is still being talked about, but not nearly as much as some other teams like Indiana, Ohio State, Texas, Georgia and more. UA was picked 11th in the Preseason Coaches Poll, its lowest placement since 2008, and fifth in the SEC's initial ranking.

The Tide is in an unfamiliar spot with its lack of being the face of the sport, and Saban approved Alabama's status as an under-the-radar team at SEC Media Days. DeBoer said at the time that he doesn't mind that at all and it's in the back of his players' minds.

So, should Alabama be concerned with its national expectations? Well, you could look at this bulletin board material in a couple of ways: One is that you play every game as if the entire country wants you to lose, which adds a ton of fuel to the fire. But at the same time, playing against the world could distract a team from the opponent in front of them.

With all of this being said, what is DeBoer's message to the team during the first week of fall camp?

"Just keep working. We’ve talked about working in silence since January. These guys are just doing their thing, not getting caught up in anything they can’t control. We know what our goals are. We know what our expectations are. We’ve never shied away from that. We attack the day.

"The challenge for us right now is to continue to just become one, and that’s been our theme here going into camp is just uniting. It’s 11 guys on offense, 11 guys on defense, special teams. But also as a whole program, having each other’s back. That’s the challenge we’ve got to continue with so many guys in the program.

"I’ve been pleased with it, but we’ve got to be great because there’s some big-time moments that are gonna be coming our way. With the schedule you have, you know that’s going to happen in college football, so we’ve got to be ready, be prepared, know how we’re going to respond.”

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