“I don’t think the SEC paid players, ever.” Imagine spending 17 seasons with the “Hey, wanna play for a natty team and earn an easy way into the NFL pipeline?” then getting pushed aside because of the sudden NIL shift in the CFB landscape – To say the Tide had a rough time would be an understatement. Despite a massive financial front, Nick Saban‘s later years at Bama were a struggle. Then what? Well, HC retries and Kalen DeBoer is hired to carry forward the legacy. However, the seeds of downfall were already in the walls and soon cracks appeared as multiple players left the Tide squad for better NIL deals. The stage is set, the curtains have been raised, and NIL dictates how good your roster is.

But for how long?

With the new regulations coming in, there is going to be a seismic shift in football spending, which DeBoer calls “an even playing field.” But is this take something he should be mocked for? “That’s what he says when it comes to, uh, paying these players and all that it allows us to get where it was. At one point, just a few years back, where recruiting is real recruiting, not just someone who’s gonna put in the highest bid, and he’s talking about acquiring talent, of course. But um, yeah, so DeBoer wants to get it back to the Saban era,” Michael Bratton points out. Being in the playoff picture for multiple years and then getting tossed around by rosters built on money isn’t something a lot of HCs could digest—DeBoer being part of the crowd.

But have you ever wondered that maybe, for once, Alabama is experiencing what the other side used to experience during the Saban era? Then added to that fact is the lack of “classic Bama football” we witnessed from the Crimson Tide this year. The fire that was lit with the Georgia win gradually simmered down to a big pile of nothing.

Blame Jalen Milroe, blame Nick Sheridan, but it’s not like Bama didn’t have “good” players at their disposal. It was a lack of the offensive staff to truly use that talent to get some solid production. To sum everything up, there was a time when Bama got anything they wanted.

The top recruit, the best roster class, blah blah. Saban’s era was revolutionary for Tide football, and it made a squad that was like Nebraska, becoming a goliath in the SEC. Now? Reality has set in, and DeBoer has witnessed what some programs (like Michigan and Bucks) are willing to spend for the top class.

Still, all is not lost. Ranked 3rd in the nation with a class score of 93.34 – Bama’s 2025 roster, while rated quite low than its 2023-2024 counterpart, still has the flair that could bring about a Crimson Tide—to wash away the opponents.

Reliving a legacy?

17 years ago, when Saban first set foot in Tuscaloosa, Bama wasn’t even in the AP poll. Now, things didn’t change overnight. From 6-7 in 2006 to a flipped 7-6 in 2007 – Saban lit the flames of hope in the hearts of Bama fans. No,w what followed was nothing short of historic.

Instant 12-2 in 2008 and then a national championship win in 2009. The Saban era had started, but it had also left what we like to call a curse on the Tide squad. When DeBoer took over, some people hit the drawing board with rulers to measure who had more worth—Saban or Kalen DeBoer.

At the end of the day, it is important to understand that DeBoer wasn’t there to become the “next Nick Saban”—if” you ask us? No one can be the next Nick Saban. But circling back to the “curse,” we saw it in full effect as the one “Great Crimson Tide” went on to lose to an unranked team and then a handicapped Oklahoma squad in a shameful manner.

Now, with Milroe gone and Sheridan out of the OC role, DeBoer has a chance to make the fans relive a legacy. Bama has Ryan Williams, Keelon Russell, and multiple other star players – what we fans are left to see is how DeBoer, Ryan Grubb, and Kane Wommack make use of this loaded roster.