Former Alabama RB says Tide players should feel like they got ‘slap in the face’

Alabama football’s former running back Trent Richardson feels the Crimson Tide players should have a chip on their shoulders this season.

Richardson is feeling this way after Alabama was predicted to finish sixth in the conference by media members at SEC Media Days.

“Y’all know how I feel about it,” Richardson said on “The Dynasty” podcast. “And if you got any part of that Crimson blood in you, you should definitely feel like this is a slap in the face, and it should be definitely motivation. That would be up in every locker room, every locker. That would be up over every weightlifting bench, station, everybody’s door. It would be the screensaver on my phone when I was in school, you know what I’m saying? Like, because at the end of the day, like, I know last year it was said that, you know, we will handle all disrespect on the field. But bro, this is it right here. Like, you got people really— I ain’t gonna say not scared of us, but they’re not scared of us. But at the same time, it’s like, bro, like we got to put up and shut up.”

For Trent Richardson, Alabama being picked sixth in the SEC preseason media poll is a “slap in the face.”#rolltide pic.twitter.com/aHgbXl8nUT

— THE DYNASTY (@TheDynastyBAMA) July 28, 2026

Alabama was one of the best teams in the SEC last year. It reached the SEC Championship Game and the College Football Playoff. The Tide won one playoff game before losing to eventual National Champions Indiana.