Jumbo Package: Gump Day!

“Yeah, I have no problem with that,” Saban said. “Unionize it, make it like the NFL. I mean, if it’s going to be the same for everyone, I think that’s better than what we have now because what we have now is we have some states and some schools in some states are investing a lot more money in terms of managing their roster than others and I think this is going to create a real competitive disadvantage for some in the future. And it’s also going to create an imbalance in the competitive nature of the sport, which that’s not good for the sport.

“Everything they do in the NFL is to create what? Parity. Parity. And if they could have every team going into the 17th week 8-8, that would be like a dream for the NFL. … Well if you think there’s disparity in college football right now, there’s going to be a lot more in the future.”

There’s also the matter of the Internal Revenue Service.

Talking about the money already invested into athletes from an educational perspective, Saban offered a complicating factor with the employee model.

“So you’re going to have to start paying tax on all that just because you got a tutor, you got to pay tax on what it cost,” he said. “I don’t know. Do you have to pay tax on the gear that you get? So all of these things to me … I made the statement years ago and I got very criticized for it, is this what we want college football to become?

“So now it’s kind of becoming that. And I don’t think it’s going to be a level playing field because some people are showing a willingness to spend more than others where if you want to bring the NFL into it, they have a salary cap, they have all the things that level the playing field. And we could put guidelines on some of this stuff that would do the same thing.”

Well, with the offseason really kicking into gear, it’s time for all of the NIL arguing to kick back up in full force. And, as usual, Nick Saban is pretty much the main voice of reason.

Here’s the entire interview if you’re interested:

It is possible the three 5-Stars, Keon Keeley, Yhonzae Pierre, and Qua Russaw, along with highly rated 4-Star, Jordan Renaud will have to wait until the 2024 season for any significant playing time. Though Renaud was ranked as a recruit at the Edge position, he is expected to be a defensive end of the Crimson Tide.

The reason Keeley, Pierre and Russaw may not see much 2023 action is top recruits from the 2020, 2021 and 2022 classes are ahead of them.

Alabama Football Returning Outside Linebackers

Junior, Dallas Turner was a 5-Star and the No. 1 ranked Edge in the 2021 class.

Senior, Chris Braswell was a 5-Star and the No. 2 WDE in the 2020 class.

Senior, Quandarrius Robinson was a 4-Star and the No. 6 OLB in the 2020 class.

Redshirt Sophomore, Keanu Koht was a 4-Star and the No. 3 Edge in the 2021 class.

Redshirt Freshman, Jeremiah Alexander was a 5-Star and the No. 1 Edge in the 2022 class.

It’ll be interesting to see how Alabama approaches the outside linebacker position this year. Earlier in Saban’s tenure, three to four linebackers rotated here fairly regularly, often with pass rush specialists. In the last 5 years or so, though, it’s mostly been two full-time starters.

Dallas Turner is one of those guys, and expect him to play the bulk of the snaps.

Chris Braswell is the presumed starter alternate Turner, but is that job secure? Braswell got a lot of hype last offseason as the 3rd pass rusher who’s good enough to be a starter, but he wound up making a fairly minimal impact last season.

Jeremiah Alexander and Keanu Koht looked really good during the spring game this year in their first real action, and then there’s Keon Keeley and Yhonzae Pierre coming in, who have all the potential in the world.

Mark Sears announced he will return to Alabama for his senior year after testing the NBA draft waters. Sears declared for the 2023 NBA Draft while maintaining his college eligibility on April 8 and participated in the G League Elite Camp. But now, he will be back for another season.

“Bama nation, I’m back,” Sears said in a video he shared via Twitter on Tuesday.

Finally, a bit of good news for Nate Oats and the Tide’s hoops program. There’s been a whole lot of roster attrition for Alabama, so it’s good to have the veteran Mark Sears returning. Alabama is also hoping to get Jahvon Quinnerly back for another year as well, which would give them an extremely experienced backcourt while having to break in a whole new front court.

If you need a recap of all of the roster moves, here’s a breakdown from Charlie Potter:

The Alabama men’s basketball team is in flux at the moment.

Following the 2022-23 season, the Crimson Tide has had two players leave via the transfer portal while welcoming three transfers from other schools to the fold. Also, five players have entered the NBA draft, with three maintaining their college eligibility. And there could be more.

To try and make sense of the current roster, BamaOnLine looks at where things stand.

Current scholarship count: 10

This is basically going to be a brand new team next season. And so goes college basketball.

That’s all for today. Roll Tide!