The Change Ryan Coleman-Williams is Making to His Game Day Apparel

The Alabama wide receiver, who struggled with drops in 2025, is doing something untraditional with his hands this season.

8/27/26 MFB Fall Camp Practice 18 Alabama Wide Receiver Ryan Coleman-Williams (1) Photo by Kent Gidley | Photo by Crimson Tide Photos / UA Athletics

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — A lot has changed for one of the main faces of Alabama football ahead of the 2026 season.

This includes an alteration in name, jersey number, weight and more. But among the most notable differences for Crimson Tide wide receiver Ryan Coleman-Williams this season will be his game day apparel.

Alabama has posted several photos of Coleman-Williams at practice throughout the offseason, and in these pictures, he isn't wearing gloves. It's very untraditional, but Coleman-Williams said on Tuesday that he won't be wearing them during games either.

Coleman-Williams said that he didn't wear gloves "a couple of times" as a freshman, and hasn't practiced with them "pretty much my whole life." This move comes after a sophomore campaign that was underwhelming for him, as he recorded several drops. Nevertheless, his answer when asked what led to the change had nothing to do with 2025.

"Nothing," Coleman-Williams said. "Just playing football. With gloves or without gloves, it doesn't really matter. It's just playing football."

Coleman-Williams has received a ton of praise from head coach Kalen DeBoer, offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb and several of his teammates as well. So, how does he feel about his growth?

"I just keep trying to find ways every single day to focus on what details I'm trying to get one percent better at," Coleman-Williams. "So just finding ways to increase my value for this team and the goals that we have for this season."

It's extremely rare that a wide receiver doesn't wear gloves, but it worked out for Pro Football Hall-of-Famers Steve Largent, Lynn Swann and Tim Brown. In terms of Coleman-Williams, practicing without gloves seems to be doing the trick.

"Ryan's consistency was something all spring long that I know he should be feeling good about," DeBoer said after A-Day. "But Ryan's expectations are just like all of ours, that we expect elite performance. He's going to just continue to grind. He's a leader for us and our football team, and he can be because he works as hard as anyone that's out there. And so it's paying off. It's showing up.

The 19-year-old, who will be graduating in December after just 2 1/2 years of college, is embracing a new role as a leader heading into Year 3. It's led to big improvements from the Preseason All-SEC First Team member on and off the practice field.

"Obviously, I've had to step up in a leadership role because we haven't had many guys who have stepped into that role with experience," Coleman-Williams said. "I'm speaking confidence into my guys. We have a lot of guys that've been grinding and getting prepared for this upcoming Saturday and throughout the season. But just speaking that life into them and let them understand that they're ready."

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