McCarron details why Alabama needs to establish best 5 offensive linemen early in 2026

In 2025, Alabama rotated around seven or eight guys on the offensive line throughout the season and often throughout games, and a former national champion and current UFL head coach is advising the Crimson Tide to not repeat that in 2026.

On The Dynasty: A Podcast on the Alabama Crimson Tide, AJ McCarron said that the offensive line is the “biggest brotherhood in all of college football” and believes a starting rotation of multiple guys hinders rapport and communication up front.

“There’s a continuity there and a rapport amongst each other that is unmatched, and when you’re rotating six, seven, eight guys, it’s impossible to have that,” McCarron said. “There’s no way because everybody communicates differently. Everybody plays different. I just don’t understand it.”

There could be some correlation between Alabama’s poor offensive line play and the lack of a consistent starting unit, and McCarron is definitely alluding to that. Alabama was almost last in rushing in the SEC. Teams bullied Alabama up front and capitalized on the Crimson Tide’s apparent communication issues. 

Alabama never established who the starters were on the offensive line. Even before the injury bug struck the team, there never was a declaration of who Alabama’s starting five was going to be.

In 2026, the Crimson Tide’s offensive line will look drastically different as players like Kadyn Proctor, Kam Dewberry, Jaeden Roberts and Parker Brailsford are going pro or are out of eligibility, and players like Wilkin Formby as well as backups Olaus Alinen, Joseph Ionata and Micah DeBose have transferred to other schools. 

Alabama brought in enough offensive linemen through the transfer portal to rebuild the offensive line. The Crimson Tide added Texas transfer Nick Brooks, Mississippi State transfer Jayvin James, Michigan transfer Ty Lockwood and Kaden Strayhorn, Clay Poly transfer Racin Delgatty and Ole Miss transfer Ethan Fields.

Micheal Carroll is the only starter returning to Alabama for the 2026 season, but he will have to progress and compete with the incoming transfers in order to retain a starting job at tackle.

Alabama hired Adrian Klemm to be the new offensive line coach. This happened after the firing of former offensive line coach Chris Kapilovic. 

McCarron says the Crimson Tide need to prioritize finding the best five offensive linemen and make sure they do it early enough to build chemistry.

“Hopefully, this new o-line coach (Adrian Klemm) comes in, and this team can establish the five guys, the starting five early and let these guys build that rapport with each other,” McCarron said. “Let them build that chemistry that is just unmatched.” 

With storylines like this one, it will be an intriguing spring for Alabama football.