Alabama’s 2026 football season will mark its third under the helm of head coach Kalen DeBoer. After seeing significant growth in 2025, DeBoer and the team hope to continue the program’s trajectory and achieve a deeper playoff run this season.
After missing the playoffs entirely in 2024 and ending the season in a loss to Michigan in the ReliaQuest Bowl, Alabama made both the SEC Championship and the playoffs in 2025, reaching the Rose Bowl after beating Oklahoma in the team’s playoff opener.
With quarterback Ty Simpson now off to the Los Angeles Rams, the most discussed topic about the Crimson Tide has been the ongoing quarterback battle between redshirt junior Austin Mack and redshirt freshman Keelon Russell.
Mack, who was Simpson’s backup last season, possesses tremendous size for the position and a big arm that can touch all parts of the field. He is by far the most experienced player at the position and is very familiar with Alabama’s offensive scheme, as this is his fourth year playing for DeBoer.
Fending off Russell, however, will be a tall task, as the second-year signal-caller is quick, surgically accurate and isn’t afraid to take risks trying to make a big play.
Given the talent of both quarterbacks, Alabama is likely to have a high floor at that position this year. Regardless of who wins the job, the team could once again have a future NFL player under center in 2026.
“We got exactly who we need,” offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb said. “They’re two of the best quarterbacks in the country.”
The rest of Alabama’s offense has been largely overhauled, after much of last year’s production from the skill positions and offensive line was lost. A priority this offseason has been improving the running game after it ranked in the bottom fifteen in the country in 2025.
While junior Daniel Hill is expected to inherit the starting tailback spot, he will be challenged by Tuscaloosa native Kevin Riley, as well as standout true freshmen Ezavier Crowell and Trae’shawn Brown. The offensive line, meanwhile, returns a single starter and brings in six transfers.
The defensive front seven will experience a major rebuild this year as well, with only two returners who are currently projected to start. Among those two is edge rusher Yhonzae Pierre, who had a breakout year in 2025 with 14.5 tackles for loss and eight sacks after coming off the bench to start the year.
Pierre will likely be a candidate for SEC defensive player of the year by the end of the season, but the defense’s success will still rely on transfers being able to immediately step up at the defensive line and inside linebacker positions.
The Crimson Tide’s secondary, meanwhile, is perhaps the crown jewel of this team after returning all five starters, including First-team All-SEC safety Bray Hubbard. If the defensive front can produce enough to help out the talent in the backfield, this defense could be among the nationally elite units.
“One of the things that we just have to continue to do is find ways to create negative plays,” defensive coordinator Kane Wommack said. “I’d like to be more dominant up front.”
Alabama’s schedule will once again do the team no favors. After opening at home against East Carolina, the Crimson Tide travels to Kentucky for its first SEC matchup against new head coach Will Stein and a revamped team that will be difficult to prepare for so early in the season.
Alabama will then go back home to look for revenge against Florida State, against whom they suffered a devastating opening loss last year. After a couple more unranked conference matchups, the team will take on the most daunting part of its schedule.
In the span of four games in five weeks, Alabama will take on Georgia and Texas A&M at home and Tennessee and LSU on the road. All of those teams were ranked in ESPN’s latest top 25, where the Crimson Tide came in at No. 16, but Georgia and Texas A&M were both in the top ten.
After that stretch, the schedule eases for the last three games and includes a home game against Chattanooga and the Iron Bowl at home against Auburn’s new head coach, Alex Golesh.
With such a schedule, making the playoffs won’t be an easy feat for this team. While a 10-2 record in the regular season will practically guarantee a playoff berth, finishing 9-3 will put Alabama’s postseason hopes in the hands of the College Football Playoff Selection Committee.
To avoid losing control of its own destiny, it is vitally important that Alabama wins all of its games against unranked opponents to leave a margin for error in its stretch against elite competition.
While DeBoer saw improvement in year two, the opening loss to unranked Florida State is the type of game the Crimson Tide cannot afford in a year when it has to go through a midseason gauntlet against top SEC teams.
“We were able to learn and grow through the good and the bad that we experienced,” DeBoer told Josh Pate. “That’s the things I think we’ve improved on, that we can learn from because we’ve been through it.”
