Gary Cosby Jr.-Tuscaloosa News / USA TODAY NETWORK
Alabama saw the 2025 season get off to a disastrous start after a Crimson Tide team that was ranked #8 heading into its showdown with Florida State dropped 13 spots in the wake of a 31-17 loss. That development thrust the program under the microscope, and a Michigan transfer whose departure highlighted its NIL struggles may have also called attention to some coaching deficiencies in Tuscaloosa while comparing his new home with his old one.
It’s been two years since Nick Saban brought his legendary run as the head coach at Alabama to an end after posting a .874 winning percentage over the course of the 17 seasons where he led the Crimson Tide to six national championships.
It was hard to envy the person who was tasked with stepping up to fill the void Saban left behind after deciding to hang up his headset. Kalen DeBoer knew what he was signing up for when he agreed to take the job (one he was swayed to accept with the help of an eight-year, $87 million contract), and while Alabama fans had to know there were going to be some growing pains, the skipper is already feeling plenty of heat.
The Crimson Tide went 9-4 last year and failed to qualify for the College Football Playoff thanks to a résumé that was marred by fairly shocking losses to Vanderbilt and Oklahoma. It also appears Alabama will be facing an uphill battle to get there this year after being firmly outclassed by a Florida State team that didn’t have much trouble dispatching them in the season opener.
There’s plenty of soul-searching to be done, and there’s reason to believe some of that introspection should focus on how the team prepares based on what a former player had to say.
Michigan transfer Damon Payne implied Alabama’s approach to conditioning leaves a lot to be desired
Damon Payne is just one of the many five-star recruits Alabama has been able to attract since the start of the Saban Era, and the defensive lineman who hails from Michigan headed down south in 2021 before making his college debut as a redshirt sophomore the following year.
Payne entered the transfer portal at the conclusion of DeBoer’s first season at the helm, and he decided to head back home and presumably cap off his college career at the University of Michigan (and may or may not have received some NIL money to give him some extra incentive to do so).
The 6’4, 311-pound big man had three tackles in the Wolverines’ season opener against New Mexico, and Michigan defensive line coach Lou Esposito seemed to be pretty impressed by what he saw during his debut. During a conversation with The Michigan Insider, he noted Payne told him he’s enjoying the change of scenery while pointing to a notable difference between how things are run in Ann Arbor and Tuscaloosa, saying:
“He’s done a great job of getting himself in shape. It’s funny. We talked this week because we’re playing Oklahoma. They played him last year when he was at Alabama, and there’s a couple of clips of him on tape.
And I said, ‘Man, you look different.’ And he goes, ‘Coach, we run a lot more here. We work out differently. I feel way better.'”
Awkwaaaard.