Alabama Football Announces Captains for 2026 Season

Yea Alabama, the University's NIL collective has announced that wide receiver Ryan Coleman-Williams, cornerback Zabien Brown and safety Bray Hubbard will be Alabama's captains for the 2026 season.

Alabama has countless traditions, but among the most notable is the Walk of Fame at the Denny Chimes clock tower in the middle of campus. Since 1948, Crimson Tide football captains have left their handprints and footprints in the concrete around Denny Chimes — immortalizing their legacy.

Under Kalen DeBoer, the captains are voted on by the players shortly before the season. This will be the first time wearing the "C" for each of these players, as the four captains from last season have moved on to the NFL. Alabama has a leadership council of around 10 players, and this quartet received the most votes. So, what do the Crimson Tide's 2026 captains bring to the team?

Coleman-Williams has a new mindset as he enters his junior campaign. After a sensational freshman year that made him a national sensation and put him on the cover of a renowned video game franchise, he had a subpar sophomore season. But the 19-year-old is changing his approach and DeBoer said numerous times throughout the offseason how much he's improved on and off the field.

Brown had a somewhat similar first season to Coleman-Williams, as the cornerback was also a 5-star freshman starter at Alabama and quickly made a name for himself via big moments. But he only climbed up in 2025 and has even higher expectations for 2026. His teammates commended his leadership throughout the offseason, acknowledging his unique style of having quiet confidence.

Hubbard led Alabama with four interceptions in 2025 and finished third on the team with 79 total tackles. He also had three forced fumbles, eight pass breakups and two sacks. The rising senior was selected to the All-SEC First Team by the AP and league coaches and also earned Second Team All-America honors from the AFC.

Alabama held its annual Media Day event on Aug. 8, and BamaCentral polled numerous players asking them a simple question: if you could only vote for one captain, who would it be? Hubbard won by a landslide, but now-captains Coleman-Williams and Brown also received votes.

Coleman-Williams, Brown and Hubbard were Alabama's three player representatives at SEC Media Days. The players chosen to represent Alabama at SEC Media Days have quite the track record of being named among the captains a few weeks after the annual event.

Representatives turned captains: 22/32 (68.8 percent)
Total captains: 41
Captains who were not representatives: 9

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