Happy Thursday, everyone. Alabama softball begins SEC Tournament play today against Arkansas. The game will be televised on SEC Network, 30 minutes after the conclusion of the 11 am tilt between Auburn and Florida.
Matt Stahl thinks that an early trip to Kentucky could prove daunting for Alabama.
Stein joins up after a stint as the offensive coordinator at Oregon. Stein’s roster-building early in his tenure has earned positive reviews, and Wildcat fans are excited entering his first season.
On Sept.
12, Alabama will travel to Kroger Field, for Kentucky’s first SEC game under its new head coach. For Stein, upsetting the Crimson Tide would be a huge way to begin his tenure, the kind of win that will keep a fan base energized even if the season goes bad later on.
The fact that the game is early in the season could make it tricky for Alabama. Stein could opt to leave much of his offense shrouded in mystery the previous week against Youngstown State, something that could lead to some difficulty for the Crimson Tide defense.
The good news is that Alabama should have a significant advantage in terms of experience and athleticism when the Wildcats have the ball. But it will be very early in the season for Alabama’s overhauled offense as well. And, Kalen DeBoer has had some well chronicled road struggles.
The EJ Crowell hype train keeps rolling.
“He’s the best I’ve ever seen in high school,” Philip Rivers told AL.com before coaching against him in November. “I am looking through a different lens obviously. I think back to when I was 17 and what it would be like to try to tackle Cadillac Williams. I think I would rather try to tackle Cadillac than this guy.”
Credit Crowell’s defensive roots. Martin, who coached Crowell from peewee through high school, said Crowell primarily played defense because he was “so good” at safety and linebacker. So much so that Martin nicknamed Crowell “Nail Head.”
“He was going 100 miles an hour trying to knock your head off,” Martin said.
If Martin wanted a player to demonstrate physicality for the rest of the team, he always called on Crowell.
“He would just knock the piss out of you,” Martin said.
The offensive line will obviously be critical to the success of Crowell and the other running backs. William Sanders may be a key.
“Will’s chomping at the bit to get out there on the football field,” DeBoer said. “It was just what he had to do as far as getting him back physically. He’s done that, and we’re going to head into June here and he’s going to be, his level of purpose and intentionality to getting out there is going to be extremely high.”
Sanders has the second-most experience of any returning offensive lineman on Alabama’s roster, playing in all 15 of the Crimson Tide’s games with 185 snaps at left guard and generating 17 knockdowns.
While Mal Waldrep, Casey Poe and Ole Miss transfer Ethan Fields repped at guard during spring, DeBoer is ready to see what Sanders can do.
“I’m excited for him to have this opportunity,” DeBoer said. “He’s got perspective now, having gone through last season. Had to take a step back more while he makes his body right. I know he really wants to get out there and kind of go show what he can do.”
The ESPN staff decided to make a ranking of the best offseasons for all of the “Power 4” teams. Alabama came in 7th in the SEC.
What went wrong: Alabama suffered the first blow in a crucial offseason when NC State transfer running back Hollywood Smothers flipped his transfer commitment to Texas. Without Smothers, the Crimson Tide are leaning on an unproven cast of backfield options led by returners Daniel Hill, Kevin Riley and AK Dear and a coveted freshman in Crowell to rejuvenate a run game that ranked 125th nationally (104.1 YPG) in 2025. Questions persist around the depth of Alabama’s wide receiver corps, particularly after Rogers, an NC State transfer, suffered a spring game leg injury. Similar uncertainty lingers on the offensive line, where the Crimson Tide are banking on veteran transfers Jayvin James (Mississippi State) and Racin Delgatty (Cal Poly) to fortify a young group of returners that includes Michael Carroll, William Sanders and Jackson Lloyd.
What went right: Alabama’s quarterback competition has spilled into the summer, but only because coach Kalen DeBoer and offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb remain high on both redshirt junior Austin Mack and former five-star recruit Keelon Russell. Whoever wins the starting job will benefit from a defense that held on to a number of core playmakers, headlined by one of the SEC’s top returning edge rushers in Yhonzae Pierre and four starters from the SEC’s top pass defense a year ago in cornerbacks Zabien Brown and Dijon Lee Jr. and safeties Bray Hubbard and Keon Sabb. Virginia Tech transfer linebacker Caleb Woodson and a trio of portal defensive linemen — Green (Oregon), Thompkins (USC) and Desmond Umeozulu (South Carolina) — appear set to fill major roles for defensive coordinator Kane Wommack.
Last, ESPN also took a stab at the most likely player for each major conference school to take home some individual hardware.
LB Yhonzae Pierre, Butkus Award
The winner of the quarterback competition has a chance to be in the Heisman conversation given that he will be coached by Kalen DeBoer. But we have seen what Pierre can do — he was the team’s top pass rusher last season and should only get better with another year under his belt. In 2025, he had 52 total tackles, 14.5 TFLs and eight sacks along with three forced fumbles. He will be one of the more important contributors to Alabama’s success this season, and if he accomplishes what’s expected of him, he will likely be rewarded for it. — Harry Lyles Jr.
A transcendent campaign from Pierre would be lovely.
That’s about it for now. Have a great day.
Roll Tide.
