Alabama

2-0AP #10

SEC · Kalen DeBoer, year 3 (22-8) · Bryant-Denny Stadium · 101,821 · 100,077 avg in 2026

The nationAP #10 · Coaches #10up 2 from last week
The model#20 CFB ZeitgeistSP+ #11 (+20.0) · FPI #7
The marketAlabama by 19.5vs Florida State · our model 89% Alabama · a number, not a pick

LastW 45–17 at Kentucky · Sat Sep 12 · Caleb Woodson 2 sacks, 2 TFL, 12 tackles

Nextvs Florida State · Sat Sep 19 · 3:30 pm ET · Bryant-Denny Stadium · Alabama by 19.5 · series 3-2-1, last win 2017 · Game preview

Updated Tue Sep 15 · through week 2

The era · 2014 through 2025

The CFP Era

3 titles, 8 CFP appearances across 12 seasons — the era the program defined.

Era record 144-21 12 seasons
Best season 14-1 2018
CFP bids 8 8/12 seasons
Title games 6 6 appearances
Top-10 finishes 10 AP polled only
Titles 3 national champions
TRAJECTORY · quality-score line · AP rank dotted · CFP bids marked · coach regimes ribboned
Program Quality AP Rank (inverted) CFP Appearance
CFPCFP★ 2015CFP☆ 2016CFP★ 2017CFP☆ 2018CFP★ 2020CFP☆ 2021CFP Title #4 of the Process 13-0 · Title #6 Lost title to Georgia First miss since 2007 SABAN DEBOER '14'16'18'20'22'24NOW
CHAPTERS · 12 seasons · tap to open the archive

Alabama's 2014–2025 record is 144-21 with 8 CFP appearances and 3 national titles. The era closed the program's question of whether this program could still reach the room where the sport ends — by being in that room.

THE RIVALRY · ALABAMA × AUBURN

The Iron Bowl

Iron Bowl 84 meetings since 1902 See the whole history →
ALL-TIME 51-32-1 since 1902 · .607 win rate
STREAK W6 Alabama rolling
TROPHY Iron Bowl In play each fall
NEXT 2026 season date set by conference
Heat trajectory

Week-by-week rivalry heat isn't tracked yet for this matchup — check back as the 2026-27 season approaches and real fan-intel signal accumulates.

Fan Heat Index

Who's more worked up right now

Cross-fanbase rivalry sentiment for this matchup hasn't been measured yet this week — both sides show as neutral until real signal comes in.

Alabama
Awaiting
Auburn
Awaiting
Alabama
Auburn

THE LAST 5 · year-by-year

  1. W 2025 Win 27–20
  2. W 2024 Win 28–14
  3. W 2023 Win 27–24
  4. W 2022 Win 49–27
  5. W 2021 Win 24–22

Program outlook

Six national titles. A 38-3 semifinal blowout at the hands of Indiana. And a third-year head coach who hasn't won one. Alabama has never been this interesting.

Read the full essay — 3 more paragraphs

The Standard is not a motivational poster in a weight room at Alabama — it's the operating system. Eighteen claimed national titles, six under Saban, the houndstooth crowd that shows up at road games as though Bryant's ghost demands the road trip: Alabama is what college football looks like when the program and the standard are the same noun.

Entering Year Three, Kalen DeBoer is 20-8 — which would be a renovation project anywhere else and is a pressure cooker here. The 2025 Playoff run ended in a 38-3 knockout at the hands of eventual champion Indiana. In Tuscaloosa, that scoreline has the weight of evidence. National analysts are openly writing the tenure-pressure piece. The internal fracture is clean: one faction argues the standard takes a beat to rebuild and DeBoer has earned time; the other says "this is Alabama" cannot coexist with a 38-3 semifinal.

The 2026 season is DeBoer's clearest referendum. Not the question of whether Alabama is good — they'll be good; the depth is real, the recruiting has stayed top-five nationally — but whether good is Alabama. That's the question 2026 will answer, in SEC stadiums where opponents have started believing they can win.

On the field

Dynastic-process football: the Saban years built the template — pro-style blocking schemes, physical SEC-trained offensive line, a defensive scheme rotating elite transfers and developed depth. DeBoer has layered a spread-RPO system over that base, which creates a transitional product — more QB-run options, faster tempo, still the trench identity underneath. The fanbase is educated on this tension and watches the offensive line health as the leading indicator.

program outlook · as of 2026-06-14

All-time record · Alabama

Alabama has won 73% of its games since 1902 — 81% at home, 63% on the road.

1001-319-42 all-time · 123 seasons · 1902–2026

Home 632-131-14
Away 301-153-25
Neutral 68-35-3
63% 1900s
64% 1910s
73% 1920s
83% 1930s
71% 1940s
46% 1950s
82% 1960s
86% 1970s
71% 1980s
74% 1990s
62% 2000s
89% 2010s
84% 2020s

Coaching Era · Alabama

Kalen DeBoer

Kalen DeBoer in year 3 of the rebuild. The methodology is taking shape.

Era Kalen DeBoer · 2024–presentPrev: Nick Saban (2014–2023)OC: Ryan GrubbPrev OC: co-JaMarcus Shephard / co-Nick Sheridan / Ryan Grubb (2025)DC: Kane Wommack / co-Maurice LinguistPrev DC: co-Colin Hitschler / Kane Wommack / co-Maurice Linguist (2024)
3 years · era

Program memory

What this program never forgets

Most weeks vanish. These didn’t.

1979

The Bryant era

Five national titles between 1961 and 1979 under Bear Bryant — the last a 12-0 season, and the standard every Alabama coach since has been measured against

The 1992 title

13-0 under Gene Stallings — proof Alabama could still win it all without Bryant

2009

Saban's first title

The start of the Process dynasty

2012

Back-to-back

Nick Saban won it again in 2011 and 2012 — the Process at its peak

2013

The Kick Six

Auburn returns a missed field goal to win the Iron Bowl — the program's signature heartbreak

Wound

Moment of the season — so far · Alabama · 2026

Won 48-10 vs East Carolina

Week 1 of 2026. A statement margin. Recruiting boards re-rendered overnight.

Decisive Margin

NFL Draft Pipeline

2022–2026

Alabama has sent 44 players to the NFL Draft since 2022 — 12 of them in the first round.

Elite. Top recruit destination + development pipeline.

44 picks · 12 in round 1
#1 Bryce Young Quarterback · 2023 · Carolina · #14/140 final season
#3 Will Anderson Jr. Outside Linebacker · 2023 · Houston · #6/548 final season
#7 JC Latham Offensive Tackle · 2024 · Tennessee
#3 all-time · 84 first-round picksthe talent factory →

More in this tab

Program factsStadium, mascot, and the vitals that don't change season to season.
Program résumé
18Nat'l titles
33Conf. titles
4Heismans
9CFP apps
79Bowl apps
1892Founded
Legendary coachPaul W. 'Bear' Bryant
StadiumBryant-Denny Stadium (100,077)
ConferenceSEC
Ladder finishHow far up the ladder this season got.

Season standing · 2026 · 2-0 · AP #10

Alabama is 10th in the AP poll at 2-0 — a top-15 team.

Top 15 nationally. NY6-bowl conversation.

Sub-FBSBuildingBowlRankedContenderPlayoff
ConferenceWhere this team sits in this season's conference standings.

SEC standing · 2026

1st in the SEC

Alabama sits at the top of the SEC at 1-0. Everyone else is chasing.

#ProgramRecord
1Alabama1-0
Arkansas0-0
Auburn0-0
Florida0-0
Georgia0-0
LSU0-0
Mississippi State0-0
Missouri0-0
Oklahoma0-0
Ole Miss0-0
South Carolina0-0
Tennessee0-0
Texas0-0
Texas A&M0-0
Vanderbilt0-0
16Kentucky0-1
Coaching historyEvery hire and departure on record, not just the current era.

Coaching history

  • Hired Kalen DeBoer2024
  • Nick Saban departs206-29, 17 seasons
  • Hired Nick Saban2007
  • Mike Shula departs26-24, 4 seasons
  • Hired Mike Shula2003
  • Dennis Franchione departs17-8, 2 seasons
  • Hired Dennis Franchione2001
  • Mike DuBose departs24-23, 4 seasons
Coordinator lineageOffense and defense under each coordinator.

Unit lineage

Alabama’s offense and defense, by coordinator

FBS-relative efficiency percentile per season (2014–2026), same population as the Coordinator Mirror board. Dashed vertical lines mark a coordinator change.

Offense2014–2026
2014201620182020202220242026
2014–2016 · Lane Kiffin2017 · co-Mike Locksley / Brian Daboll2018 · Mike Locksley / co-Josh Gattis2019–2020 · Steve Sarkisian2021–2022 · Bill O'Brien2023 · Tommy Rees2024 · co-JaMarcus Shephard / co-Nick Sheridan2025 · co-JaMarcus Shephard / co-Nick Sheridan / Ryan Grubb2026 · Ryan Grubb
Defense2014–2026
2014201620182020202220242026
2014–2015 · Kirby Smart2016 · Jeremy Pruitt2017 · co-Tosh Lupoi / Jeremy Pruitt2018 · co-Pete Golding / Tosh Lupoi2019–2022 · co-Charles Kelly / Pete Golding2023 · Kevin Steele2024 · co-Colin Hitschler / Kane Wommack / co-Maurice Linguist2025–2026 · Kane Wommack / co-Maurice Linguist
Elite (≥70th pct)AveragePoor (≤30th pct)
Gameday customsThe gameday customs unique to this program.

Rituals

Things this fanbase does every Saturday — none of them invented in the last decade.

Rammer Jammer

since 1970

more

Crimson Tide fans sing the cheer taunting the just-defeated opponent. Once considered too brash for league play, now a definitive Alabama victory ritual that echoes from Bryant-Denny across the SEC.

Yea Alabama (Fight Song)

since 1926

more

Written for the 1925 Rose Bowl trip. Defines pre-snap Bryant-Denny atmosphere. The Million Dollar Band's pregame T-formation closes with this song.

Elephant Walk

since 1981

more

Players walk single-file from locker room to field tunnel. Adopted under Bear Bryant's later years; refined by Saban into the modern ritual.

Pregame Flyover

since 2003

more

Tuscaloosa-based military flyover at major home games. Coordinated with Maxwell Air Force Base. The kind of pageantry that signals 'this game matters.'

Million Dollar Band Halftime

since 1929

more

Marching band performance with crimson-and-houndstooth uniform tradition. 'Big Al' the elephant mascot leads the formation; the band's iconic T-formation closes the show.

Cultural identityWhat college football loses if this program didn't exist.
BowlsEvery bowl this program's played, and how it did.

Bowl / Postseason Ledger

Recent postseason (2014-2025): 12-7

Most recent: 2025 — loss 38-3 (away). Last 5 postseason: 2-3.

20252025202420232022
Reddit blowupsThe plays that blew up on r/CFB.

r/cfb moments

16.5k
[Postgame Thread] LSU Defeats Alabama 32-31 (OT)
Nov 2022 · r/cfb

All-time top community posts · ranked by upvotes

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