Potential starting OL unveils Alabama’s goal for 2026 season: ‘We want to win it all’

Photo comes via Alabama athletics

The University of Alabama has a defined goal for its football program this season, but will it be achieved or is it another year of unfulfilled talk?

Alabama wide receiver aiming to prove himself right with chip on his shoulder

Kalen DeBoer understands the expectations that come in year three of being the Crimson Tide’s head coach.

Wallace Wade (1925), Eugene “Gene” Stallings (1992), and Nick Saban (2009) were three legendary coaches that captured national championships in their third season at Alabama.

DeBoer has the talent to win a College Football Playoff National Championship in Tuscaloosa (Ala.), but he needs to restore a culture of toughness. Spring practice went well for the Tide as David Ballou, the team’s director of sports performance, had the athletes getting stronger in the weight room.

He helped Daniel Hill, a junior running back, cut bad weight to gain explosiveness while assisting an offensive lineman to become stronger at the point of attack in the run game.

Alabama football’s wide receiver looks like he will be tough to cover this fall

Alabama OL Will Sanders breaks down team goal for 2026 season

William Sanders, a former four-star, missed spring practice because of an injury he suffered last season.

The Brookwood (Ala.) native played in 17 games across two years – including 15 in 2025. He is one of the most talented and physically imposing left guards in college football at 6-foot-3 and 315 pounds. Sanders appeared on the Gary Harris Show via Tide 100.9 FM this week. He spoke on many topics, especially the goal for the team in the fall. Sanders believes the Tide has the team that can win it all for the first time since 2020.

“Our goal as a team is we all want to win,” Sanders said. 

“We want to win it all. We want to get that SEC Championship, blow through the College Football Playoff, and get that natty. At the end of the day, it is not a personal goal. It is a team goal. That is what our mindset is, and it is how we move throughout the facility. Our coaches talk to us like that, never in a cocky way, but how else can you stay motivated without believing what you believe.”

Belief is good, but Alabama fans want belief to become action.

It is going to be interesting to see how DeBoer handles year three.

*Get the BEST Alabama football insider information, message board access, and recruiting coverage today! SIGN  UP HERE to unlock our subscriber-only content!*

Stephen M. Smith is a team writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine.  You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith.