Joel Klatt predicts Alabama will spiral into a downward trajectory in 2026

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Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt is dismissing Alabama as one of the top teams in the SEC heading into the 2026 season.

When evaluating the SEC on his podcast, “The Joel Klatt Show” he revealed that Alabama was becoming an after thought within the conference with other programs like Georgia and Texas being the headliners.

“We all just assume that this program is going to be just fine and they’ll be great. But, the reality is that they have quickly descended into a place that, when I think about their conference, I don’t think about them initially, and I don’t even think about them in the top three,” Klatt said.  “When I think about the SEC, I immediately think of Georgia and Texas and, oh, by the way, Alabama.

“… They are on a trajectory that is down, and I don’t think that that is going to stop. They have to level out at some point in order to start going back up. But, I don’t sense that moment of them leveling out. I think that win against Georgia on the road last year was fantastic. There’s no doubt. But, man, I don’t see this team turning it around. … I don’t love what’s going on going on down there.”

By the standard set by former head coach Nick Saban, Alabama has taken a step back and posted back t0 back four loss seasons under Kalen DeBoer. But what wasn’t mentioned during the rant was despite losing two regular season games, DeBoer was still able to get the Crimson Tide to the SEC Championship game before it defeat at the hands of Georgia.

Alabama has also certainly lost its fair share of impact players from a season ago including Ty Simpson, Germie Bernard and Kadyn Proctor but still brings in a top recruiting class along with veterans from the transfer portal to plug gaps.

Time will certainly tell whether Klatt’s assumption is true of Alabama, but the outside pressure appears to continue to mount for DeBoer.

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Patrick Dowd is a Reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via Pat_Dowd77