Another day, another Alabama drama. Ever since the playoff snub, nothing has been going well for the Crimson Tide. Their spot was given off to an SMU team that had ranked 75th in terms of strength of schedule, and following this, Kalen DeBoer and his roster managed to lose around 14 players to the transfer portal. The most recent blow to Alabama was freshman CB Jaylen Mbakwe submitting his papers to hit the portal. The talk of the town was that Jaylen was being thrown an offer of around 7-figures. Quite a lot of money, and we can’t blame the guy for taking it up.

However, it looks like things have taken an interesting turn. Back on X, Nick Kelly shared an interesting update on Jaylen’s transfer news. “Jaylen Mbakwe took down his transfer portal announcement,” Kelly mentioned in his caption, along with a screenshot of Jaylen’s Instagram account. Did Bama and DeBoer manage to deflect another massive loss? This whole thing is very weird. More so because this update is coming right after WR Ryan Williams‘ cryptic post on Instagram. “Bingo, we got action,” Williams had written on his Instagram story while sharing a picture of him and Jaylen.

This post also managed to send fans into a frenzy because everyone started thinking that the 17-year-old was planning on leaving Bama as well. However, it doesn’t look like it will be the case. Because the Jaylen update we just shared? Yeah, it has new layers now.

Kelly also shared another update regarding what Williams posted on his Instagram story just 5 minutes back. “I think we ain’t done yet,” Williams wrote while also tagging Jaylen. Okay, what is even happening? Did DeBoer and Bama manage to match the 7 figure offer Jaylen had received before?

Could this be why the CB has removed his transfer portal news? See, the WR and CB are the hosts for the famous “New Wave” podcast. So it makes you wonder if it is Bama who has managed to put a stopper on the transfer, or did Williams play his cards and manage to keep his friend on the team? Regardless of what it is, DeBoer has to go to work if he wants his team to survive the portal exodus.

What is next for Kalen DeBoer?

While every Bama fan out there was skeptical about DeBoer’s run with the Tide, no one would’ve thought that it would end with a 9-3 season. The worst part about it was the losses to an unranked Vandy and a washed-up Oklahoma team.

This season truly exposed what many had feared would happen: DeBoer still needs a year or 2 to get his grip on the team. See, there have been little to no complaints about the Bama defense. Kane Wommack has done an amazing job over there.

However, the offense? That’s a different story. Bama has been too dependent on their QB, Jalen Milroe, this season. This had a direct impact on WR depth, causing Caleb Odom, Kendrick Law, and Kobe Prentice to hit the portal because these guys barely got any production on the field.

Then again, is the portal loss something DeBoer and Bama fans should be scared of? Yeah, they are losing massive players from the offense and the defense, but do you remember what happened last year? 18 players hit the portal after Nick Saban announced his retirement.

But then Bama managed to regain recruitment momentum and ended the drought on a good note. What DeBoer needs to focus on is changing the offensive pace. The team cannot continue to be so “sink and swim” around their QB. And also gotta step up the recruitment game for the 2025 class.

The 2024 season was a lesson. 2025 is the year to make a comeback. Roll Tide.