Former Alabama players tell what will count as successful season for Tide in 2026

A successful season for Alabama football continues to be nothing short of a National Championship, according to a pair of former Alabama players.

Trent Richardson and AJ McCarron both discussed what a successful season this fall will look like for the Tide on “The Dynasty” podcast.

“Standard is the standard,” Richardson said. We win National Championships here. When the standard stop being a standard, that’s when we stop being Bama, and we can’t stop that no time soon. And so we gotta get back to the place to where we really believe that we can do this thing. And every game for us should be, 1-0, playing it like it’s a National Championship game because at the end of the day, they’re playing a national championship game against you. And so we have always been the standard, and it need to stay like that.”

McCarron shared similar feelings while discussing the Alabama standard.

“I mean, I don’t know why we would change our standard in any way,” McCarron said. “I mean you come to Alabama to play for National Championships, to win National Championships, so that’s a successful year. I mean, when we didn’t win my senior year, that was a down year. I mean, it felt like the world was coming to an end. Everybody else in this, this world might change their standard. I don’t understand why we would change our standard here. I think Coach DeBoer understood that when he took the job being the guy coming right behind Saban, and that’s part of it. I hate it for you. It’s hard shoes to fill and a hard situation to be in, but that’s the standard. It’s something we’ve built, and I don’t think you ever lower the standard or expectations.”

The last time Alabama won a National Championship was in 2020.