Three. That is the number of losses that Alabama has this season. It is also the number of points that Alabama scored on Saturday evening against Oklahoma. The last time that Alabama suffered three losses in a season came in 2010.
One thing is for certain. Alabama will play Auburn next week in the 79th Iron Bowl. Outside of that, there are a lot of unknowns surrounding the Alabama football program.
There are several key dates worth monitoring for Alabama fans in the coming weeks and months. December 4 is early signing day for the 2025 recruiting class. For the most part, Alabama’s coaching staff has assembled a complete class. There are multiple prospects that the Crimson Tide are working to flip. Otherwise, the class seems to be set. Five-star offensive tackle Ty Haywood seems to be the only commit that is weighing other options at this time.
The next important date is December 8. That is the day that the bowl selections will be made. Barring a miracle, Alabama will miss out on the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff. It will be interesting to see where Alabama will play in its bowl game, which players will play, and which players will opt out.
The following day, December 9 is when the transfer portal opens up. It is hard to predict how many players will enter the transfer portal, but I would expect a large number of players to test the portal.
There is still room to be optimistic for the future as Alabama will sign a top 3 recruiting class and bring back some young talent on both sides of the ball. The coaching staff will undergo some changes during the offseason, but I would expect several key assistants to return. The college football landscape is ever-changing. I am not going to compare Kalen DeBoer to Nick Saban. They are two different coaches and have found success in different ways over the course of their coaching careers. However, Alabama finished 7-6 in Saban’s first year in Tuscaloosa. This year’s team will finish better in a more difficult time period to win in college football.
The Alabama football program has taken blows in the past. This one is different, because the team is led by someone not named Nick Saban. Alabama is competing in an ever-changing era of college football. There will need to be answers sooner rather than later. I believe the answers will come by the manner in which Alabama performs in the Iron Bowl and the steps that are taken to fix the lingering issues surrounding the football program during the offseason.
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Brody Smoot is a team reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “follow” him on X, via @brodysmoot.
