Alabama Finally Looks Vulnerable Amid Transfer Portal Frenzy

The Crimson Tide have had more than two dozen players enter the portal since Nick Saban’s retirement, leaving a cloud of uncertainty over how the program will fare at the start of a new era.

If you’re a fan of college football, there is a high chance you’ve spent the last 16 seasons in deep jealousy of the Alabama Crimson Tide. Few teams have come close to matching what Bama did at any point under coach Nick Saban, and none has done it over the entirety of Saban’s run. But the rate at which the bubble on Alabama’s exceptionalism popped came about as swiftly as Saban’s retirement did last week.

Twenty-eight players (and counting) from the Tide’s two-deep roster have entered or reportedly intend to enter the transfer portal. Bama has had plenty of players enter in previous cycles under Saban, but they weren’t at the level of the difference makers who went in this year. Large blows came Wednesday when elite safety Caleb Downs entered the portal as did freshman left tackle Kadyn Proctor, who started every game this season. Receiver Isaiah Bond, who caught the famous pass from Jalen Milroe to beat the Auburn Tigers, has already gone to Alabama's conference rival, the Texas Longhorns. Defensive back Dezz Ricks committed to the Texas A&M Aggies. Second-leading rusher Roydell Williams is on the move, as is starter Trey Amos. These aren’t just depth pieces. For instance, Downs is one of the best players in college football at any position.

Fine. One more. But I do have other stuff to do today. Can’t keep updating this. Guess eventually I’ll run out of guys to cross off. https://t.co/K5Y6uYW1Q2 pic.twitter.com/lmNJEajCER

— Bud Elliott (@BudElliott3) January 17, 2024

These players are exploring their options due to a rule that gives players whose coaches retire or get fired 30 days to enter the portal whether the official NCAA portal window is open or closed. It’s hard to believe this churn won’t matter in September when toe meets leather, but under the guise of offseason narratives, what matters is it took a week for Alabama to look just like everyone else.

There are some problems Bama shared with the rest of college football teams but persisted anyway—the assistant coaching churn and player attrition by way of the NFL draft being chief among them. But this is the team that switched quarterbacks at halftime of one national championship game and offensive coordinators the week before a different title game. The Tide persisted, and you had faith they would continue to do so because of who was at the head of the snake. The biggest Bama question mark would be if the Tide would ever lose two regular-season games under Saban.

Downs was among the latest top talents on the 2023 Crimson Tide to enter the transfer portal :: Kiyoshi Mio/USA TODAY Sports

But with a new coach comes uncertainty that the reinforcements will be as good and that the standard can stay the standard. Kalen DeBoer’s coaching staff, scouting and development infrastructure was great with the Fresno State Bulldogs and Washington Huskies, but this is a different region of the country where recruiting is the fiercest and the staff has the fewest ties. There’s also the notion of just how good Alabama’s NIL infrastructure is. Whispers emerged of a so-called Saban discount in recruiting circles, where players would sign below top dollar for the chance to play for the legend and play the long game to seek an NFL future that so many enjoyed under him. Athletic director Greg Byrne showed up on the Paul Finebaum Show in a sweater emblazoned with the “Yea Alabama” collective and boasted about 1,000 additional signups since DeBoer was hired.

The coach who followed Saban was never going to win six national championships, and it’d be folly to expect him to, but the theory was that they’d be all right for a bit between eras because they had elite talent to bridge the gap. Now some of the best of that talent is in the portal, and that will only add to the uncertainty. The Tide haven’t looked like everyone else on the field in a long time, and that too could happen faster than you might think.