Happy Thursday, everyone. Two more days until the season starts!
Colin Gay has decided to get you all frothy for some Alabama football this morning.
There was that time against Temple when he scrambled to the right and hit a curl route dagger to Emmanuel Ellison while falling, parallel to the sideline, using a sidearm throw.
Then there was the 60-yard dart he threw to Dakorien Moore against DeSoto as a senior off his opposite foot on another bootleg play, running for his life outside of the pocket.
“That’s one of those throws that (there’s) a small percentile of people who can throw that … and a lot of them aren’t even in college,” said Jaylin Nelson, former Duncanville running backs coach.
That’s Russell, the passer: the quick-slinging, poised, smart signal-caller with elite pocket awareness and who processes defenses and routes incredibly quickly and who isn’t sped up by pressure, learned through countless 6 a.m. meetings with coordinators and assistant coaches.
“Trust me,” Frazier said. “I’d hate to be a defensive coordinator.”
There was that time against Temple when he scrambled to the right and hit a curl route dagger to Emmanuel Ellison while falling, parallel to the sideline, using a sidearm throw.
Then there was the 60-yard dart he threw to Dakorien Moore against DeSoto as a senior off his opposite foot on another bootleg play, running for his life outside of the pocket.
“That’s one of those throws that (there’s) a small percentile of people who can throw that … and a lot of them aren’t even in college,” said Jaylin Nelson, former Duncanville running backs coach.
That’s Russell, the passer: the quick-slinging, poised, smart signal-caller with elite pocket awareness and who processes defenses and routes incredibly quickly and who isn’t sped up by pressure, learned through countless 6 a.m. meetings with coordinators and assistant coaches.
“Trust me,” Frazier said. “I’d hate to be a defensive coordinator.”
May every DC on the schedule feel the same way this season.
Jackson Lloyd says Alabama ain’t afraid of no heat.
“It’s always hot here,” Jackson Lloyd told reporters on Tuesday in Tuscaloosa. “It’s nothing different for us. We’re used to it. I mean, it’s never not hot here, so we’re not really worried about that. So they got to play in the heat too, so we’re just going out there and play football.”
Lloyd is right. The fact that it’s hot in Alabama in early September is hardly news.
But the level of heat expected on Saturday is notable, even if not unexpected. Current weather reports place the potential high temperatures during the Crimson Tide’s season-opening matchup with East Carolina in the high 90s at least, with heat index expected to reach the triple digits.
According to Lloyd, Alabama is well prepared for the challenge.
“It’s hot for us every single day,” Lloyd said. “You never come out here and it’s cloudy, 70 degrees, like you don’t see that here. So it’s nothing different for us.”
“It’s always hot here,” Jackson Lloyd told reporters on Tuesday in Tuscaloosa. “It’s nothing different for us. We’re used to it. I mean, it’s never not hot here, so we’re not really worried about that. So they got to play in the heat too, so we’re just going out there and play football.”
Lloyd is right. The fact that it’s hot in Alabama in early September is hardly news.
But the level of heat expected on Saturday is notable, even if not unexpected. Current weather reports place the potential high temperatures during the Crimson Tide’s season-opening matchup with East Carolina in the high 90s at least, with heat index expected to reach the triple digits.
According to Lloyd, Alabama is well prepared for the challenge.
“It’s hot for us every single day,” Lloyd said. “You never come out here and it’s cloudy, 70 degrees, like you don’t see that here. So it’s nothing different for us.”
That’s the mentality you have to have, but it’s going to be miserable.
Hunter De Siver wonders if Alabama can break a three year special teams touchdown drought.
Caleb Downs had the Crimson Tide’s last punt return touchdown in 2023 against Chattanooga. Jameson Williams recorded the most recent kick return touchdowns, doing so twice in the same game against Southern Miss in 2021.
Malachi Moore scored off Ja’Corey Brooks’ blocked punt against Louisiana Monroe in 2022. And while it isn’t considered a touchdown, the last time the Crimson Tide blocked an extra point and scored was in 1998 against East Carolina — Alabama’s 2026 season-opening opponent — between Kenny Smith and Kecalf (KELF) Bailey.
It’s been nearly three years since Alabama’s last special teams touchdown. So, is this the season that streak ends?
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Caleb Downs had the Crimson Tide’s last punt return touchdown in 2023 against Chattanooga. Jameson Williams recorded the most recent kick return touchdowns, doing so twice in the same game against Southern Miss in 2021.
Malachi Moore scored off Ja’Corey Brooks’ blocked punt against Louisiana Monroe in 2022. And while it isn’t considered a touchdown, the last time the Crimson Tide blocked an extra point and scored was in 1998 against East Carolina — Alabama’s 2026 season-opening opponent — between Kenny Smith and Kecalf (KELF) Bailey.
It’s been nearly three years since Alabama’s last special teams touchdown. So, is this the season that streak ends?
Yhonzae Pierre will be counted on heavily this season.
Pierre emerged as the Crimson Tide‘s top pass rusher in 2025, bringing in 14.5 tackles-for-loss and 8 sacks, both of which are the highest totals for any player in two years under Kane Wommack’s scheme. Pierre was explosive, adding 52 tackles, a pass deflection and 3 forced fumbles.
Heading into his fourth season at Alabama, Pierre is heavily favored to be the Crimson Tide’s leading sack-getter, it’s leading force as a pass rusher. That’s the obvious part.
“We need to see more of the same, and you expect improvement there,” Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer said of Pierre on the SEC Football Coaches Media Teleconference.
Pierre emerged as the Crimson Tide‘s top pass rusher in 2025, bringing in 14.5 tackles-for-loss and 8 sacks, both of which are the highest totals for any player in two years under Kane Wommack’s scheme. Pierre was explosive, adding 52 tackles, a pass deflection and 3 forced fumbles.
Heading into his fourth season at Alabama, Pierre is heavily favored to be the Crimson Tide’s leading sack-getter, it’s leading force as a pass rusher. That’s the obvious part.
“We need to see more of the same, and you expect improvement there,” Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer said of Pierre on the SEC Football Coaches Media Teleconference.
John Talty’s book about Lane Kiffin has raised a bunch of eyebrows.
“You’ve got to keep Lane away from the girls that are in college,” Saban said, according to one former coach. “Just keep him away from the sorority girls. Make sure they’ve graduated college or are working a job.”
It was as if the Alabama head coach always assumed the worst of Kiffin even when it was an innocent interaction in a staff meeting. That in turn, could create conflict with Kiffin, who couldn’t understand why his boss jumped on him so frequently and intensely. “You have an interaction that is a little bit more contentious than you would hope,” says one Alabama staffer, “and it creates more tension for the next potential event.”
Layla and the kids never made the move to Tuscaloosa, leaving Kiffin to go off the rails, frequenting Tuscaloosa-area bars. On at least one occasion, an Alabama staffer had to go to Innisfree Irish Pub to retrieve a golf cart Kiffin had left there the night before. “[Innisfree co-owner Derick] Purdy would call me and say, your boy Lane’s back in here asking where the hotties are,” says Josh Booty. “‘Can you introduce me to hotties?'” As one friend of Kiffin’s during that time put it, he was afraid Kiffin was going to “drink himself to death.” He was lonely without his family, and he was facing intense pressure working for a man he couldn’t understand. The stress was almost unbearable at times, and he looked for relief around town. With that came guilt and further strain from his family over his actions. “I’ve seen him on the floor crying like a goddamn baby,” the friend described, when Kiffin faced repercussions from mistakes that impacted his family. “And then I’ve seen him doing shit that’s like ‘you got to put your dick back in your pants.'”
“You’ve got to keep Lane away from the girls that are in college,” Saban said, according to one former coach. “Just keep him away from the sorority girls. Make sure they’ve graduated college or are working a job.”
It was as if the Alabama head coach always assumed the worst of Kiffin even when it was an innocent interaction in a staff meeting. That in turn, could create conflict with Kiffin, who couldn’t understand why his boss jumped on him so frequently and intensely. “You have an interaction that is a little bit more contentious than you would hope,” says one Alabama staffer, “and it creates more tension for the next potential event.”
Layla and the kids never made the move to Tuscaloosa, leaving Kiffin to go off the rails, frequenting Tuscaloosa-area bars. On at least one occasion, an Alabama staffer had to go to Innisfree Irish Pub to retrieve a golf cart Kiffin had left there the night before. “[Innisfree co-owner Derick] Purdy would call me and say, your boy Lane’s back in here asking where the hotties are,” says Josh Booty. “‘Can you introduce me to hotties?'” As one friend of Kiffin’s during that time put it, he was afraid Kiffin was going to “drink himself to death.” He was lonely without his family, and he was facing intense pressure working for a man he couldn’t understand. The stress was almost unbearable at times, and he looked for relief around town. With that came guilt and further strain from his family over his actions. “I’ve seen him on the floor crying like a goddamn baby,” the friend described, when Kiffin faced repercussions from mistakes that impacted his family. “And then I’ve seen him doing shit that’s like ‘you got to put your dick back in your pants.'”
It sounds like Lane never grew up after all, he just learned to fake it.
Last, Alabama basketball added another exhibition game.
Alabama basketball has scheduled a third preseason test against a familiar opponent before officially embarking on its 2026-27 non-conference slate.
The Crimson Tide is set to host Furman for an exhibition on Thursday, Oct. 8 in Coleman Coliseum, according to the Paladins’ non-conference schedule release on Wednesday, September 2. The matchup will mark the second straight year Alabama and Furman have met in an exhibition.
Alabama basketball has scheduled a third preseason test against a familiar opponent before officially embarking on its 2026-27 non-conference slate.
The Crimson Tide is set to host Furman for an exhibition on Thursday, Oct. 8 in Coleman Coliseum, according to the Paladins’ non-conference schedule release on Wednesday, September 2. The matchup will mark the second straight year Alabama and Furman have met in an exhibition.
That’s about it for now. Have a great day.
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