Alabama Players Excited about Future of Program

Despite a disappointing regular season, Crimson Tide players are ready to build upon a strong finish in the Sugar Bowl heading into 2023.

Katie Windham | Dec 31, 2022

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Alabama Crimson Tide

NEW ORLEANS — It might be hard to understand from an outside perspective, but this season was a disappointment for the Alabama Crimson Tide.

However, Saturday's Sugar Bowl performance against Kansas State helped the Crimson Tide finish the season with an 11-2 record and a dominant win over a Power Five conference champion.

And that gives the players some motivation, and reason for excitement, heading into next season.

Just look at offensive lineman JC Latham's twitter. His goals for next season include the Outland trophy, Joe Moore trophy, undefeated season and a national championship.

Wide receiver Jermaine Burton will be coming back for another season after finishing the year on a strong note. It took him some time to get comfortable in the Alabama offense, but he averaged 88 receiving yards per game over the final four games and also added four touchdowns.

He likes the direction the wide receivers are headed.

"I love the young guys," Burton said after the game. "They’re funny. They have both feet in for the program, and that’s what we need. A lot of those guys are ready to step up and play their role.”

Burton finished the season with 677 yards and seven touchdowns.

Throughout the weeks of preparation leading up to the game, Alabama head coach Nick Saban said the younger players were taking advantage of the extra practices the bowl game provides.

"With 11 bowl practices a lot of young players on our team made a significant amount of improvement," Saban said in his postgame press conference. "So I think those guys can be outstanding players in the future. But I do think their development was enhanced by having the opportunity to practice and get ready to play for this game."

Junior defensive back Brian Branch has not yet made a decision whether or not he will come back for his senior season after being projected in the first round. Regardless, he thinks the future is bright for the Crimson Tide and that the way this season played out set up success next year.

"I know we’re going to do big things next year, and it made us more hungry," Branch said.

Over the coming days, Alabama will have more players declare for the NFL draft and likely more players enter the transfer portal, but with another No. 1 recruiting class coming in 2023, it is once again relock and reload for Saban and the Crimson Tide.

Katie Windham is the assistant editor for BamaCentral, primarily covering football, basketball gymnastics and softball. She is a two-time graduate of the University of Alabama and has covered a variety of Crimson Tide athletics since 2019 for outlets like The Tuscaloosa News, The Crimson White and the Associated Press before joining BamaCentral full time in 2021. Windham has covered College Football Playoff games, the Women's College World Series, NCAA March Madness, SEC Tournaments and championships in multiple sports.

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