Josh Cuevas tells what Alabama needs to do to rebound in 2026

Sep 6, 2025; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Alabama tight end Josh Cuevas (80) catches a touchdown pass against UL Monroe at Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Alabama defeated UL Monroe 73-0. Mandatory Credit: Gary Cosby Jr.-Imagn Images

The college football season ended about a week ago, and the Alabama Crimson Tide’s 2025 season ended two rounds earlier than the team wanted it to end. However, now is never a bad time to look ahead to the 2026 season and how the Crimson Tide can improve.

The offseason has been a busy one for the Crimson Tide as players and coaches have joined the team or departed from the team, but now that a player like Alabama tight end Josh Cuevas is on the other side of the 2025 season as well as his collegiate career, the senior tight end took a moment at the Senior Bowl to reflect on the year Alabama had and highlighted the things Alabama will need to do better in 2026 to bounce back from the 38-3 blowout loss against Indiana in the Rose Bowl.

“I think we have a whole bunch of younger guys going in, and I can tell you right now our communication just up front, whether it be offensive line, tight ends, just kind of stuff like that, protection checks and stuff from the quarterback, that can get tremendously better,” Cuevas said on Andy&Ari. “I think we had a little bit of trouble handling pressure and blitzes from defenses all year. So, I think the communication part absolutely needs to get better.”

This is a pretty mellow way of stating that the Crimson Tide got bullied up front by multiple teams last season and need a refresher on the basics and fundamentals when it comes to running the ball and protecting the quarterback. A good way to turn things around is bringing new people like Adrian Klemm, who’s expected to be the next offensive line coach at Alabama.

Another thing that Cuevas is right about is Alabama having a bunch of younger guys, but they also will have a heap of fresh faces competing for starting jobs. Alabama will have a heavy dose of transfer portal talent taking starting spots on both sides of the line of scrimmage, but the biggest thing to note is that almost every position on the offensive line will have a new starter in 2026.

When talking about DeBoer, a man that recruited Cuevas from Cal Poly to Washington before Cuevas followed DeBoer from Washington to Alabama in the following seasons, Cuevas shared his insight on why DeBoer is so good at coaching up the younger players.

“Coach DeBoer is so good at buying into those younger guys and taking them under his wing and just kind of sitting them down every single time and the support staff around him and just telling everybody ‘Hey, this is what you need to work on,’ this and that,” Cuevas said. “And I mean, he’s coached national championship teams, so he’s capable of doing it at a high level. I never doubt for a second that he will be able to do it at Bama.”

Cuevas is one of three Alabama players representing the Crimson Tide in the Senior Bowl, the other two being defensive linemen Tim Keenan III and LT Overton.