Even as Nick Saban passes the baton to Kalen DeBoer, the championship expectations remain

DALLAS — In a week where the temps have been in the upper 90s here in Texas, Alabama came to SEC Media Days packing heat.

Georgia will probably be the preseason pick to win the league. Texas and Oklahoma have sucked up lots of preseason oxygen. Even Ole Miss, Missouri and Tennessee have been among the sport’s biggest offseason darlings.

But the Tide remain the sun of the SEC, and the league’s solar system will revolve around Alabama until proven otherwise. Despite losing the Greatest Coach of All-Time in Nick Saban, the 2024 Tide have no plans on fading into oblivion with a new sheriff in town.

“We were one game away (from the national title),” quarterback Jalen Milroe said Wednesday.

“What burn do you need more than being that close to the championship?”

Ever since that seven-point Rose Bowl loss to Michigan in the College Football Playoff Semifinals, it’s been an offseason full of tumult in Tuscaloosa.

Saban’s abrupt retirement in January created a whirlwind of angst and uncertainty within Alabama’s football program. Star safety Caleb Downs transferred to Ohio State. Top wideout Isaiah Bond booked it to Texas. Overall, more than 30 players would ultimately leave the team, yet seven months later, the waters have calmed and Alabama looks a lot like Alabama again.

The Tide has an excellent coach in Kalen DeBoer. They have an awesome staff and currently boast the top-ranked recruiting class in the 2025 cycle.

Oh, and despite all the departures, Alabama still has a whale of a roster with a freakazoid at quarterback, one of the best offensive lines in the country and a defense still littered with blue-chip talent.

Who needs Nick Saban anyway?

I kid. Maybe?

“We want this to be our team, our national championship. We have the talent in-house to be able to do that,” guard Tyler Booker said.

“We were seven points away from winning a national championship. We can’t lose sight of that.”

Those writing off the Tide just because the GOAT will no longer roam the sidelines might be wish-casting more than dealing in reality at this point. Alabama is on a 15-year heater, and after Saban’s stunning announcement, Milroe was a key voice in a players-only meeting that resulted in the core of the program sticking around.

“It’s time to give everybody flowers who is a part of 2024 Alabama because it’s been a difficult offseason in terms of process and external factors that we can’t control,” Milroe said when asked about the lack of hype around the Tide’s team this offseason.

“We’ve just focused on our goals as a team and stayed grounded. I’m really proud of the guys in the locker room because they could’ve gone anywhere they wanted to but they stayed and want to do something special this season.”

Milroe could be the X-factor in Alabama’s quest to chase a championship again this fall. He might be the biggest wild card in the entire sport. He’s a bananas athlete with limitless potential, and DeBoer has been effusive in his praise for Milroe’s maturity, leadership and work ethic.

If the second-year starter can limit his bone-headed turnovers and be fully unlocked in DeBoer’s QB-friendly scheme, why can’t the Tide remain the class of the conference after upsetting Georgia in the SEC Championship in 2023?

“The day I stop getting better is the day I retire,” Milroe said.

“I have so much I can improve on, and I’m really excited about the process.”

Anything short of returning to the College Football Playoff would be considered a disappointment for the Tuscaloosa faithful in 2024, so there’s real pressure on DeBoer to deliver results in Year 1.

But as Saban passes the baton to DeBoer, the demand for excellence and internal expectations still hold just as strong in the locker room, too.

Alabama’s “LANK (Let All Naysayers Know) mentality” remains the program’s battle cry in 2024, and as Booker said, “The intensity, that ‘Bama standard, hasn’t changed.”