Alabama Football: Attrition continues to follow the Tide’s massive additions from the Transfer Portal

Well, the offseason giveth, and the offseason taketh away.

The 13th member of the 2021 Alabama football team to enter the transfer portal was once the starting punter.

Ty Perine, who didn’t appear in a game in the last two seasons, entered the market Tuesday evening.

Perine, a Prattville High School product, stepped onto the scene as a true freshman walk-on who earned the top role midway through the 2019 season. Appearing in six games, Perine punted 13 times for an average of 44.7 yards.

Perine got a lot of hype back in 2019 when he appeared out of nowhere booming some 50 yard punts and got the media interested with behind-the-scenes rumors that he was fast enough to be a receiver too.

In the loss to LSU that season, though, he shanked one punt and fumbled a snap, and we pretty much never saw him again with very little explanation from Nick Saban. Despite his average being pulled down by two shanks in 13 total punts, he still averaged 6 yards per punt better than anything else Alabama has trotted out on the field since JK Scott.

Adding to the weirdness of the punting situation, the Tide brought in transfer Jack Martin from Troy last offseason. Martin averaged 46 yards per punt in college before transferring to Alabama, and was then never given a shot to punt, as James Burnip averaged 39 yards per punt in 2021.

What I would give to see what has gone on behind the scenes in Alabama’s punting room since 2019, because none of it makes sense from the outside. If I’m ever given the shot to ask Nick Saban one question after he retires, it will be about this.

Alabama RB Camar Wheaton, a 5-star recruit, is no longer listed in Alabama’s student directory and has been away from the team, according to a report from Chris Hummer of 247Sports.

Wheaton is not listed in the transfer portal, and though an official announcement has not been made, he is unlikely to return to Alabama, according to the report. Wheaton was the seventh-highest rated recruit of Alabama’s class of 27 players in 2021.

The next loss for the Tide’s roster in 2022 looks like it may be 5-star running back Camar Wheaton. He apparently injured his knee in the preseason, and then was vaguely dismissed in press conferences by Saban all year long, even as injury decimated the Tide’s depth chart and wide receiver Christian Leary and linebacker Demouy Kennedy were moved to play some emergency running back.

There’s not been anything official announced, but 247’s generally pretty good about not breaking anything that’s not legit.

With the additions of Georgia Tech Jahmyr Gibbs and 5-star Emmanuel Henderson, as well as Jase McClellan and Roydell Williams expected to return from knee injuries, Wheaton was looking at being 5th on the depth chart at best.

Compared to the previous year, Alabama’s income was down $9.5 million. It would have been worse if not for the $23 million bailout from the SEC the propped up some of the bigger losses.

But when that is included, the $179.8 million in revenue beat the average of the five years that preceded it by nearly $6 million. How’s that? Alabama’s media rights revenue has been on a steady climb to reach $50.6 million in 2021. That’s up from $42.4 million in 2016 in a number that’s grown every year since. Contributions are also up $11.5 million over the five-year average to $34.8 million in 2021.

Despite the major losses in ticket sales, Alabama still managed to do alright financially in the first year of Covid disruptions. The same couldn’t be said of many schools, such as in-state inhabitant Auburn, who operated at a financial loss. Turns out constantly paying massive buyouts to coaches can cause some issues.

In hoops news, Alabama fell in embarrassing fashion to the Georgia Bulldogs last night, and I refuse to say anything else about that game. Instead, here’s some good news:

For the first time in Alabama men’s basketball history, the Crimson Tide has two McDonald’s All-Americans in its signing class, as five-star point guard Jaden Bradley and five-star small forward Brandon Miller were recognized with the honor on Tuesday.

The 24 honorees will compete in the game on March 29 in Chicago.

Bradley, the No. 1 point guard and the No. 17 overall player in the country, per they industry-generated 247Sports Composite Rankings. His future teammate Brandon Miller is considered the No. 3 small forward and the No. 11 overall player in the country by the same rankings.

Not one, but two McDonald’s All-Americans are already signed with Alabama for the 3rd ranked class in the country. This program isn’t going to start backsliding anytime soon.

Six players from Alabama high schools and colleges are members of the Pro Football Writers of America’s All-Rookie team for the 2021 NFL season.

The team includes four players selected from Alabama in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft – Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najee Harris, New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones, Denver Broncos cornerback Patrick Surtain II and Miami Dolphins wide receiver Jaylen Waddle – as well as their former Crimson Tide teammate, Patriots defensive tackle Christian Barmore, and former Fort Payne High School kicker Evan McPherson.

Finally, Alabama’s 2020 team was the best to ever grace college football. When 5 players from that squad go on to make the NFL’s All-Rookie team, it just kind of proves how talented that team was, and how little chance the rest of college football stood.

Roll Tide!