Happy Friday, everyone. There isn’t much point in previewing the mismatch that will take place tomorrow afternoon. There are many good reasons for these games to be played, but they’re still somewhat cringey
to watch. In any case, your time and TV info is linked here:
Alabama football’s last game at Bryant-Denny Stadium in the 2025 regular season will be against its annual FCS opponent.
The Crimson Tide will host Eastern Illinois at 1 p.m. Saturday Nov. 22 on SEC Network as Alabama tries to get back on track after falling to Oklahoma in Week 12.
Alabama’s game against Eastern Illinois will be its first meeting against the Panthers.
Kalen DeBoer is looking for his team to approach the game as they would any other.
Kalen DeBoer’s plan for Alabama football is not changing during Eastern Illinois week.
The experiences the Crimson Tide has gone through and the maturity DeBoer has seen Alabama cultivate create the same expectations for the Panthers as Oklahoma the week before, or Auburn the week after.
“That is focus on us. You remind the guys of that, they remind themselves of it,” DeBoer said on his “Hey Coach” radio show Wednesday, Nov. 19. “And especially with where we’re at in the season, and understanding that we need to get better every single day. We still have a lot of goals in front of us. And so the process that we are going through this week is the same one we’d normally go through.”
The real goals are to play a ton of young dudes and emerge healthy.
Parker Brailsford is questionable for the game, but is spending some of his time to help feed people.
“These kids, to see Parker, to see these players that they see on Saturdays come into their clubhouse, come into the place where they feel safe and secure and know that these guys were once just like them and they see that they can be anything they want to be and they can work hard and they can fulfill their dreams just like Parker has,” said Turner.
Brailsford says that he always grew up knowing he had to give back.
“It means a lot. Obviously, growing up as a kid that was always able to provide, like my family was always able to provide for me, being able to give back is a special thing that I don’t take lightly,” said Brailsford.
Some Penn State fans continue to believe that they have a shot at luring Kalen away from Alabama, and he’s probably not the only staffer that will be targeted in what is shaping up to be a wild offseason.
The hot board published by Sauber included several names that have been linked to other openings across the country, including Texas A&M coach Mike Elko, Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz, and James Madison head coach Bob Chesney. One name that may catch some fans by surprise is Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer, who Sauber ranked No. 2 on his hot board for the Nittany Lions.
Sauber reports that DeBoer is ‘still the program’s primary target…The Alabama head coach is much more likely now than he was last week after the Crimson Tide lost to Oklahoma.’ Sauber also reports that DeBoer is ‘not a great fit at the program…’
Forget rumors about Alabama football coach Kalen DeBoer being courted by one of the major programs currently looking to fill a vacancy.
Not to say there won’t be inquiries, but if there’s going to be a winter raid on the Crimson Tide coaching staff, it’s more likely going to target its coordinators. The likes of Penn State, Florida and LSU might be looking for more of a head coaching track record than UA offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb, or defensive coordinator Kane Wommack, can offer. Grubb has none, and Wommack spent three seasons running the show at South Alabama. But it’s going to be a wild, wide-open market for coaches in the coming weeks, and as big jobs get filled, the trickle-down effect opens still more jobs at programs that might not be powerhouses, but are nevertheless attractive to top coordinators.
Personally, I don’t see Kalen going anywhere. He not only seems happy in Tuscaloosa, but has assembled an outstanding recruiting glass a year after pulling top QB prospect Keelon Russell, the highest rated recruit to ever come to Alabama, to headline a freshman class that has made a measurable impact on the field this season. As Nick Kelly notes, if Kalen was to leave it would be largely caused by delusional people who believe that prime Nick Saban would still be winning national titles every other year in the current environment.
Spoiler: he would not.
Lane Kiffin is front and center in this season’s coaching carousel, as LSU and Florida both reportedly want to pry him out of Oxford. And on brand, Lane is soaking up the attention.
Eli Drinkwitz correctly asserts that the committee did not emphasize SOS when they did this week’s rankings.
The Big Ten and Big 12 already play nine-game conference schedules and SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey made clear the reason for the move, noting “our requirement to play an additional power opponent ensures SEC teams are well prepared to compete and succeed in the College Football Playoff.” A month later, the ACC made the move as well, albeit with some wrinkles.
All conferences are looking for ways for their teams to spruce up their CFP resumes. Still, Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz criticized the selection process, which this fall added more emphasis on a team’s schedule strength. The CFP committee this week ranked Notre Dame (9) ahead of Alabama (10), a decision that turned heads. Both teams have two losses, but the Crimson Tide has four ranked wins compared to Notre Dame’s one ranked win against USC.
“The level of inconsistencies that have been created is hard to ignore, and we were all given the promise there’s gonna be a strength of schedule metric factored in — didn’t happen,” Drinkwitz said.
This is a cool piece on Labaron Philon’s decision to withdraw from the NBA Draft.
Philon kept his decision so under wraps that even some Alabama staffers were caught by surprise when the news trickled out less than 90 minutes before the 11:59 p.m. deadline. Those well-made portal plans? Yeah, they got tossed in a hurry. Alabama didn’t need to find a star anymore. It had one charting back to Tuscaloosa.
“When I first made the decision, I called all the coaches and told them, you know, I wanted to come play for a championship team with a higher standard and come be a leader,” Philon said. “Come back and do things that, you know, I didn’t have the chance to do last year. Take more sacrifices. I’ve just been learning as I go.”
Last, some guy named Roger Myers apparently had a tailgate at some point in the past, and used it to convert many people into Gumps. One of those is Braves standout and Wisconsin native Drake Baldwin.
Myers believes that Baldwin, who nominated himself and center fielder Michael Harris II as two of the Atlanta players likely to have the most fun at a college football tailgate, has turned into an Alabama fan based on his experience at the games he’s been to. Myers may not be entirely off base, given that Baldwin said he gets the chills when his favorite game-day tradition arrives and “Dixieland Delight” plays in the stadium, also adding that that seeing an Iron Bowl is now on his bucket list.
“He was just very, very personable. Anybody that he met, just great with his time. Pictures, talking, whatever,” Myers said. “You could feel Drake becoming more and more of a Gump, even the first time, but really, really now… He knows all the lingo, and the songs, the whole thing. He’s really, really, really into it. I think we’ve got a Bama fan for life.”
Roger is Tuscaloosa royalty.
That’s about it for today. Have a great weekend.
Roll Tide.
