The Alabama Crimson Tide is going through a challenging transition from Nick Saban to new head coach Kalen DeBoer.
After the first offseason of the new era went about as well as it possibly could have in terms of recruiting, and everyone seemingly starting to get on the same page, it simply has not translated to the field yet for whatever reason and the Tide has two losses before November for the first time since 2007.
Someone who lived and played through the highest highs of the Saban era and understands the standard as well as anyone in former Crimson Tide quarterback and 2x national champion AJ McCarron feels he has a pretty good idea however, essentially calling it the consequences of a selfish mindset due to the new era of college football surrounding players getting paid through NIL.
“I think it’s definitely a different era,” McCarron said on the McCready & Siskey podcast. “I don’t think you’ll see the same standard from discipline, just things that the team seems to do. It’s a new day and age. Everybody’s worried about f***ing Tik Tok and having a reel and being on highlights for their personal self and personal gain, and how much money they can get from NIL. We just didn’t have that s*** back then. It was a team sport. You came together as a team because you had one common goal, because you knew that’s how you were going to make your money, was by winning.”
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McCarron added that if the team wins, NFL scouts and personnel will come to see the players, which is how they should be creating value for themselves, echoing what Saban often emphasized.
“Winning attracts people to that program, it attracts scouts, it attracts GMs, it attracts ownership to allow yourself that opportunity to go make yourself a lot of money and change your family tree for a long period of time. You can just tell. It’s not the same.”
Michael Brauner is a Senior Sports Analyst and Contributing Writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @MBraunerWNSP and hear him every weekday morning from 6 to 9 a.m. on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5, available free online.
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